Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 5
श्री भगवानुवाच
पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः।
नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च।।
पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः।
नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च।।
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
paśya me pārtha rūpāṇi śataśo ’tha sahasraśaḥ
nānā-vidhāni divyāni nānā-varṇākṛtīni ca
also searched as "pashya me partha rupani shatasho tha sahasrashah"
Translation
The Lord said, "Behold, O Arjuna, My forms, hundreds upon thousands, manifold, divine, varied in hue and shape."
Vāṇi's rendering
Then look — my forms by the hundred, by the thousand: divine, of every kind, every colour, every shape.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| श्री भगवान्śrī-bhagavān | the Blessed One, Krishna |
| उवाचuvāca | said |
| पश्यpaśya | look, behold |
| मेme | my |
| पार्थpārtha | O Pārtha, son of Pṛthā — Arjuna |
| रूपाणिrūpāṇi | forms, shapes |
| शतशःśataśaḥ | by hundreds |
| अथatha | and then (appears as ’tha, the initial a elided after śataśo) |
| सहस्रशःsahasraśaḥ | by thousands |
| नानाविधानिnānā-vidhāni | of many kinds, manifold |
| दिव्यानिdivyāni | divine, shining |
| नानावर्णाकृतीनिnānā-varṇākṛtīni | of many colours and shapes (varṇa + ākṛti joined by sandhi) |
| चca | and |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 5 mean?
Arjuna has asked to see Krishna's sovereign form. Krishna answers with a single word — look — and then floods it: forms by the hundred, by the thousand, divine, of every kind and colour and shape. No argument, no proof offered. The teaching turns here from what is spoken to what is shown, and the weight shifts from Krishna's telling to Arjuna's seeing.
What does 'pashya me partha rupani' mean?
Paśya me pārtha rūpāṇi — look at my forms, Pārtha. It is a command, not a promise. Krishna does not say you will understand; he says look. What follows in this chapter is not explanation but display, and Arjuna must be given new sight before the command can be obeyed at all.
Why does Krishna show many forms instead of one?
Because a single form would let Arjuna keep his idea of Krishna intact. Hundreds and thousands, every colour, every shape — this breaks the frame. Whatever picture you carry of what the sacred must look like, the verse is larger than it. This is not a portrait being offered. It is the end of portraits.
Do I need a vision like Arjuna's to know Krishna?
No. Arjuna is shown what he cannot otherwise hold, and it frightens him badly. Krishna will later say that love sees more gently than spectacle does. What this verse asks of you is smaller and harder — to look at what stands before you without deciding beforehand what it is allowed to be.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna asked to see. Krishna does not explain — he says look. And what is offered is not one shape but hundreds, thousands, every colour, every kind, as if the answer to a single question were a whole sky opening. Notice that the forms were always there. Nothing new is being made; Arjuna simply had not been looking with eyes that could hold it. That is why the next verse must give him different eyes. You have asked, more than once, for something to be shown to you. It may already be in front of you, waiting on the manner of your looking.