Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 51
अर्जुन उवाच
दृष्ट्वेदं मानुषं रूपं तवसौम्यं जनार्दन।
इदानीमस्मि संवृत्तः सचेताः प्रकृतिं गतः।।
दृष्ट्वेदं मानुषं रूपं तवसौम्यं जनार्दन।
इदानीमस्मि संवृत्तः सचेताः प्रकृतिं गतः।।
arjuna uvāca
dṛṣṭvedaṁ mānuṣaṁ rūpaṁ tava saumyaṁ janārdana
idānīm asmi saṁvṛttaḥ sa-cetāḥ prakṛtiṁ gataḥ
also searched as "drishtvedam manusham rupam tava saumyam janardana"
Translation
Arjuna said, "Having beheld Your human and pleasing form, O Krsna, I am now composed in mind and have been restored to my normal nature."
Vāṇi's rendering
Now that I see your gentle human form again, I can breathe. My mind returns; I am myself.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अर्जुनarjuna | Arjuna |
| उवाचuvāca | said |
| दृष्ट्वाdṛṣṭvā | having seen (joined with the next word as dṛṣṭvedam) |
| इदम्idam | this |
| मानुषम्mānuṣam | human |
| रूपम्rūpam | form |
| तवtava | your |
| सौम्यम्saumyam | gentle, kindly, easy to look upon |
| जनार्दनjanārdana | O Janārdana — Krishna, the one who stirs and shelters people |
| इदानीम्idānīm | now, at this moment |
| अस्मिasmi | I am |
| संवृत्तःsaṁvṛttaḥ | become, settled back into |
| सचेताःsa-cetāḥ | with my mind present again, collected |
| प्रकृतिम्prakṛtim | my own nature, my ordinary self |
| गतःgataḥ | returned to, arrived at |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 51 mean?
Arjuna, shaken by the vast form he asked to see, finds Krishna standing before him once more in the familiar human shape. He says his mind has returned and he is himself again. The verse marks the moment terror gives way to relief — the immense withdraws, and the near and gentle remains.
What does drishtvedam manusham rupam tava saumyam janardana mean?
It means: having seen this gentle human form of yours, O Janārdana. Saumyam carries the sense of mild, cool, kindly — the opposite of the blazing sight that preceded it. Arjuna names the relief in the same breath as the seeing. The form he can look at is the form he can love.
Why does Arjuna prefer the human form to the universal vision?
Because he can stand in front of it. The universal form showed him what is true; the human form lets him remain a friend, a listener, a man with a bow. Awe cannot be sustained. Nearness can. Krishna gives back the face precisely so the teaching can continue.
What does it mean to be restored to one's own nature here?
Prakṛtim gataḥ — Arjuna has come back to his ordinary self after being blown open. Something in you knows this: after grief, after shock, after a truth too large to hold, the mind gathers itself and you can speak again. That return is not a retreat. It is what makes the next step possible.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna has just seen everything — mouths, worlds, time devouring. He begged for that sight, and then could not stand it. Now Krishna stands before him again as a friend with a face, and the first thing Arjuna says is that he can breathe. Notice what he does not say. He does not say the vision was false, or that he wishes he had never asked. He says his mind has come back. The vast is true, and unbearable for long; the gentle form is where a life can be lived. What steadies you is not less real than what overwhelmed you. It is what lets you stay.