Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 50
सञ्जय उवाच
इत्यर्जुनं वासुदेवस्तथोक्त्वा
स्वकं रूपं दर्शयामास भूयः।
आश्वासयामास च भीतमेनं
भूत्वा पुनः सौम्यवपुर्महात्मा।।
इत्यर्जुनं वासुदेवस्तथोक्त्वा
स्वकं रूपं दर्शयामास भूयः।
आश्वासयामास च भीतमेनं
भूत्वा पुनः सौम्यवपुर्महात्मा।।
sañjaya uvāca
ity arjunaṁ vāsudevas tathoktvā
svakaṁ rūpaṁ darśayām āsa bhūyaḥ
āśvāsayām āsa ca bhītam enaṁ
bhūtvā punaḥ saumya-vapur mahātmā
also searched as "ity arjunam vasudevas tathoktva"
Translation
Sanjaya said, Having thus spoken to Arjuna, Sri Krsna once more revealed His own form. The Mahatman, assuming a benign form again, reassured him who had been struck with awe.
Vāṇi's rendering
So speaking, Krishna took back his own gentle form — and softly, the great one comforted his frightened friend.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सञ्जयःsañjaya | Sanjaya |
| उवाचuvāca | said |
| इतिiti | thus, in this way (appears as ity before the next vowel) |
| अर्जुनम्arjunaṁ | to Arjuna |
| वासुदेवःvāsudevaḥ | Krishna, the son of Vasudeva (sandhi: vāsudevas before tathā) |
| तथाtathā | so, in that manner (joined with uktvā as tathoktvā) |
| उक्त्वाuktvā | having spoken |
| स्वकम्svakaṁ | his own |
| रूपम्rūpaṁ | form |
| दर्शयामासdarśayām-āsa | showed, revealed |
| भूयःbhūyaḥ | again |
| आश्वासयामासāśvāsayām-āsa | comforted, gave courage to |
| चca | and |
| भीतम्bhītam | the frightened one |
| एनम्enaṁ | him |
| भूत्वाbhūtvā | having become |
| पुनःpunaḥ | once more |
| सौम्यवपुःsaumya-vapuḥ | of gentle form, mild-bodied (sandhi: saumya-vapur before mahātmā) |
| महात्माmahātmā | the great one |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 50 mean?
Sanjaya reports the closing of the vision. Krishna, having said all he had to say in that vast shape, folds it away and stands again in the form Arjuna knows and loves. Then he comforts him. The verse says the terror was real, and that it ended in tenderness.
What does ity arjunam vasudevas tathoktva mean?
Having spoken so to Arjuna, Vāsudeva showed his own form once more. The line turns on tathā uktvā — the speaking is finished. What follows is not more teaching but a gesture: the great one becomes saumya-vapuḥ, gentle-bodied, and reassures a friend who is still shaking.
Why does Krishna return to his ordinary form here?
Because Arjuna asked, and because love answers what is asked. The cosmic form was shown to be seen, not to be lived beside. Krishna scales himself to what his friend can hold. Nothing of the immensity is lost; it simply stops pressing. That restraint is itself the kindness.
What can I take from this verse when I feel overwhelmed?
That being overwhelmed is not a failure to be corrected. Arjuna is called bhītam, frightened, and no one scolds him for it. He is comforted. When something too large has passed through your life, you are not required to become equal to it. You are required only to be steadied.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Notice who is comforted. Arjuna has just seen everything — mouths, worlds, time eating armies — and asked for the four-armed shape back, and even that was too much. Krishna does not lecture him about strength. He puts the vision away, returns as the friend standing in the chariot, and then reaches over to steady him. The great one becomes gentle because the frightened one needs gentleness. That is the whole of it. What you can bear is what you are given; the immensity waits, and does not insist. When you are undone, you are not asked to grow larger — you are held.