Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 30
लेलिह्यसे ग्रसमानः समन्ता
ल्लोकान्समग्रान्वदनैर्ज्वलद्भिः।
तेजोभिरापूर्य जगत्समग्रं
भासस्तवोग्राः प्रतपन्ति विष्णो।।
ल्लोकान्समग्रान्वदनैर्ज्वलद्भिः।
तेजोभिरापूर्य जगत्समग्रं
भासस्तवोग्राः प्रतपन्ति विष्णो।।
lelihyase grasamānaḥ samantāl
lokān samagrān vadanair jvaladbhiḥ
tejobhir āpūrya jagat samagraṁ
bhāsas tavogrāḥ pratapanti viṣṇo
also searched as "lelihyase grasamanah samantal"
Translation
Devouring all the worlds on every side with your flaming mouths, you lick them up. Your fiery rays, filling the whole universe with their radiance, scorch it, O Vishnu.
Vāṇi's rendering
With burning mouths you lick up whole worlds from every side. Your fierce light fills the universe and scorches it.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| लेलिह्यसेlelihyase | you lick again and again, licking your lips over and over |
| ग्रसमानःgrasamānaḥ | swallowing, devouring |
| समन्तात्samantāt | from every side (appears as samantāl by sandhi before lokān) |
| लोकान्lokān | the worlds, the peoples |
| समग्रान्samagrān | all of them, entire |
| वदनैःvadanaiḥ | with mouths (vadanair before the soft sound following) |
| ज्वलद्भिःjvaladbhiḥ | blazing, on fire |
| तेजोभिःtejobhiḥ | with rays of burning brilliance (tejobhir by sandhi) |
| आपूर्यāpūrya | having filled up completely |
| जगत्jagat | the moving world, the universe |
| समग्रम्samagram | whole, without remainder |
| भासःbhāsaḥ | shafts of light, blazes (bhāsas before tava) |
| तवtava | your |
| उग्राःugrāḥ | fierce, terrible |
| प्रतपन्तिpratapanti | scorch, burn everything through |
| विष्णोviṣṇo | O Viṣṇu, O all-pervading one |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 30 mean?
Arjuna is watching time eat the world. The mouths of the vast form take in whole peoples from every direction and then lick for more, while a scorching light fills all space. It is not punishment and not cruelty. It is what devouring looks like when nothing is exempt from it, seen all at once.
What does lelihyase grasamanah samantal mean?
Lelihyase is an intensive form — licking, and licking again, the way a flame runs back over what it has already touched. Grasamānaḥ is swallowing. Samantāt is from every side. Together they say that the consuming has no gaps in it, no direction from which nothing is coming.
Why does Arjuna call Krishna Vishnu here?
Because Viṣṇu means the one who pervades. Arjuna is looking at fire in every direction and reaching for the name that fits what he sees. He is also still addressing someone. Even in terror he speaks to Krishna rather than about him — and that address is the thread he does not let go of.
How can this verse help me when I am afraid of death?
It does not soften anything. Everything you love is in those mouths, and the Gītā says so plainly. But Arjuna is standing there speaking, and the speaking holds. Fear is not removed by argument here. It is survived by staying in relationship with the one who is doing the taking.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna has stopped asking questions. He is describing — and the description keeps returning to mouths. Not one swallowing, but licking: the tongue that goes back for what it missed. Krishna showed the form because Arjuna wanted to see; now the seeing will not stop. The worlds go in from every side, and there is no side that is not a side. Notice that Arjuna still says Viṣṇu — he keeps naming the one who is eating him, keeps speaking to him. That is what remains when everything you counted on is inside the fire. Your voice, still addressed to someone.