Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 8
न तु मां शक्यसे द्रष्टुमनेनैव स्वचक्षुषा।
दिव्यं ददामि ते चक्षुः पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम्।।
दिव्यं ददामि ते चक्षुः पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम्।।
na tu māṁ śakyase draṣṭum anenaiva sva-cakṣuṣā
divyaṁ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ paśya me yogam aiśwaram
also searched as "na tu mam shakyase drashtum anenaiva sva chakshusha"
Translation
But you will not be able to see Me with your own eyes. I give you a divine eye, so behold My Lordly Yoga!
Vāṇi's rendering
But these eyes of yours cannot see it. I give you divine sight — now behold my sovereign power.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नna | not |
| तुtu | but, indeed |
| माम्māṁ | me |
| शक्यसेśakyase | you are able |
| द्रष्टुम्draṣṭum | to see |
| अनेनanena | with this |
| एवeva | only, merely (joined as anenaiva) |
| स्वचक्षुषाsva-cakṣuṣā | with your own eye |
| दिव्यम्divyaṁ | divine |
| ददामिdadāmi | I give |
| तेte | to you |
| चक्षुःcakṣuḥ | eye, sight |
| पश्यpaśya | behold, see |
| मेme | my |
| योगम्yogam | power, yoga |
| ऐश्वरम्aiśvaram | sovereign, lordly |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 8 mean?
Arjuna has asked to see Krishna's cosmic form, and Krishna answers that ordinary eyes cannot hold it. So he grants divya cakṣuḥ — divine sight — and only then says paśya, behold. The vision is not achieved by looking; it is received. The verse marks the moment the limit of the human instrument is admitted and then lifted.
What does na tu mam shakyase drashtum anenaiva sva chakshusha mean?
It means: you cannot see me with these eyes of yours. Krishna is not scolding Arjuna's weakness; he is naming a fact about the instrument. Physical sight is fitted to shapes, distances, faces. What Arjuna asked for is not a larger shape. That is why the next words are not try again but I give you.
Why does Krishna have to give Arjuna divine sight?
Because the vision Arjuna requested is not bigger than his eyes, it is other than them. Nothing Arjuna could practise would stretch ordinary sight far enough. Krishna gives what cannot be manufactured. This is why the verse belongs to bhakti as much as to knowledge: the highest seeing arrives as a gift, unasked-for in its form.
Does this verse mean spiritual vision is only for a chosen few?
No. It means the vision is given, not seized — and Arjuna is chosen for nothing except having asked with his whole heart while standing in his own grief. That posture is available to anyone. What is closed here is the door of effort alone. What is opened is the door of asking.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna does not tell Arjuna to look harder. He tells him the instrument is wrong. The eyes that measured chariots and counted cousins were never built for what is about to stand in front of them — so they are replaced. Notice that Arjuna does not earn this sight; it is given, and given before he has done anything but ask. The seeing you want is not the seeing you already have. Whatever you have been straining toward — some clarity about your work, your grief, the person across from you — may not open by effort of the eyes you brought. Ask instead to be given other ones.