Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 45
अदृष्टपूर्वं हृषितोऽस्मि दृष्ट्वा
भयेन च प्रव्यथितं मनो मे।
तदेव मे दर्शय देव रूपं
प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास।।
भयेन च प्रव्यथितं मनो मे।
तदेव मे दर्शय देव रूपं
प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास।।
adṛṣṭa-pūrvaṁ hṛṣito ’smi dṛṣṭvā
bhayena ca pravyathitaṁ mano me
tad eva me darśaya deva rūpaṁ
prasīda deveśa jagan-nivāsa
also searched as "adrishta-purvam hrishito smi drishtva"
Translation
Seeing something never seen before, I am delighted. But my mind is also filled with awe. Show me, O Lord! Your other form. O Lord of the gods! Be gracious, O Abode of the universe!
Vāṇi's rendering
I rejoice at what none has seen — yet fear shakes my mind. Be gracious: show me your familiar form.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अदृष्टपूर्वम्adṛṣṭa-pūrvaṁ | that which was never seen before |
| हृषितःhṛṣitaḥ | thrilled, delighted (sandhi: hṛṣito 'smi) |
| अस्मिasmi | I am |
| दृष्ट्वाdṛṣṭvā | having seen |
| भयेनbhayena | by fear |
| चca | and, at the same time |
| प्रव्यथितम्pravyathitaṁ | shaken, thrown into distress |
| मनःmanaḥ | mind (sandhi: mano me) |
| मेme | my |
| तत्tat | that (sandhi: tad eva) |
| एवeva | that very one, precisely that |
| मेme | to me |
| दर्शयdarśaya | show |
| देवdeva | O shining one |
| रूपम्rūpaṁ | form |
| प्रसीदprasīda | be gracious, soften toward me |
| देवेशdeveśa | O lord of the gods |
| जगन्निवासjagan-nivāsa | O dwelling place of the world (sandhi: jagat + nivāsa) |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 45 mean?
Arjuna has been granted the vision he begged for, and it has overwhelmed him. He says both halves honestly: I am thrilled, and my mind is shaking with fear. Then he asks Krishna to be gracious and return to the form he knows. Awe and terror arrive together, and asking for gentleness is not a retreat from truth.
What does adrishta-purvam hrishito smi drishtva mean?
Adṛṣṭa-pūrvaṁ means what was never seen before — nothing in Arjuna's memory prepares him for it. Hṛṣito 'smi dṛṣṭvā: seeing it, I am thrilled. The line holds joy and the coming confession of fear in one breath, which is how genuine wonder actually feels.
Why is Arjuna afraid if he asked for this vision himself?
Because wanting to see and being able to bear the sight are different capacities. Arjuna asked as a friend and received as a creature before the immeasurable. Pravyathitaṁ mano me — my mind is shaken. The Gītā records this without embarrassment. Fear at the boundary of your own smallness is not a spiritual failure.
Why does Arjuna want Krishna's familiar form back?
Because relationship needs a face. The cosmic form can be worshipped but not spoken to, not driven beside, not teased in the chariot. Arjuna asks for prasāda — graciousness — so love can resume where it was possible. Whatever vastness you glimpse, you will still need something close enough to hold.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna asked to see, and he saw. Now he asks it to stop. Both things are true at once in him — delight at what no eye has held, and a mind shaking loose from its own moorings. He does not pretend the fear away, and Krishna does not scold him for it. There is a limit to how much vastness a person can hold, and reaching it is not failure. What Arjuna wants back is the face he could speak to. The friend with the flute, the charioteer at his shoulder. When the infinite has frightened you, ask for the form you can love.