Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 47
श्री भगवानुवाच
मया प्रसन्नेन तवार्जुनेदं
रूपं परं दर्शितमात्मयोगात्।
तेजोमयं विश्वमनन्तमाद्यं
यन्मे त्वदन्येन न दृष्टपूर्वम्।।
मया प्रसन्नेन तवार्जुनेदं
रूपं परं दर्शितमात्मयोगात्।
तेजोमयं विश्वमनन्तमाद्यं
यन्मे त्वदन्येन न दृष्टपूर्वम्।।
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
mayā prasannena tavārjunedaṁ
rūpaṁ paraṁ darśitam ātma-yogāt
tejo-mayaṁ viśvam anantam ādyaṁ
yan me tvad anyena na dṛṣṭa-pūrvam
also searched as "maya prasannena tavarjunedam"
Translation
The Lord said, "By My grace, O Arjuna, this Supreme Form, luminous, universal, infinite, and primal—never seen before by anyone but you—has been revealed to you through My own free will."
Vāṇi's rendering
Because I am pleased with you, I showed by my own power this supreme form — radiant, endless, first — never seen before.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| श्री भगवान् उवाचśrī-bhagavān uvāca | the Blessed One said |
| मयाmayā | by me |
| प्रसन्नेनprasannena | who am pleased, glad, gracious |
| तवtava | to you |
| अर्जुनarjuna | Arjuna (address; sandhi in tavārjunedaṁ) |
| इदम्idam | this |
| रूपम्rūpam | form |
| परम्param | supreme, highest |
| दर्शितम्darśitam | has been shown |
| आत्मयोगात्ātma-yogāt | by my own power of union, my own inner might |
| तेजोमयम्tejo-mayam | made of light, blazing |
| विश्वम्viśvam | all-encompassing, the whole |
| अनन्तम्anantam | endless |
| आद्यम्ādyam | first, before all |
| यत्yat | which |
| मेme | my, of me |
| त्वत्tvat | than you |
| अन्येनanyena | by another |
| नna | not |
| दृष्टपूर्वम्dṛṣṭa-pūrvam | seen before |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 47 mean?
Krishna tells Arjuna why the cosmic form appeared: because Krishna was pleased, and by Krishna's own power. Not because Arjuna asked well or practised long. The form is radiant, endless, first, and no one before Arjuna has seen it. The seeing is a gift, and the giver names it as one.
What does maya prasannena tavarjunedam mean?
"Because I am pleased with you." Prasanna is the clearing of water when the silt settles — brightness, favour, gladness. Krishna is saying the vision arose out of his own pleasure in Arjuna, not out of any leverage Arjuna held. Grace has a mood, and this is its name.
Why does Krishna say no one has seen this form before?
To place Arjuna's terror in proportion. What shook him was not a hallucination and not a common sight; it was unprecedented. Krishna is neither apologising for the fear nor dismissing it. He is telling Arjuna that what he could not bear was, in fact, unbearable — and given anyway.
Can I have a vision like Arjuna's if I practise hard enough?
The verse closes that door gently. Ātma-yogāt — by Krishna's own power, not Arjuna's. Effort has its place across the whole Gītā, but this sight was not its wage. Do the practice for what practice does. Leave the timing of any opening to the one who opens it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna does not say Arjuna earned this. He says: I was pleased. The vision came from prasannena — a gladness on Krishna's side, not a technique on Arjuna's. And it came ātma-yogāt, by Krishna's own power; no discipline of Arjuna's pried the sky open. Notice too what follows the giving: it stops. The form is shown, and shortly it will be withdrawn. What you are given in your highest hour was never a possession, and never a proof of your standing. It was a gift, timed and finished. Receive it that way, and you will not spend years trying to make it happen again.