Thus, for originating Bhakti Yoga and helping its growth, it was taught that He is the Self of all beings. Along with it was given a description of the host of his auspicious attributes, different from all others, and natural and unique to Him. The entire collection of things, composed of sentient and non-sentient entities, distinct from Him, has its proper form, existence and activities depending upon Him, as it constitutes His body. Having heard from the Lord of this divine nature, unique to the Lord, and of the entire universe as having its proper form, existence and activity dependent on Him, and being convinced of the truth of this doctrine, Arjuna, still desirous of perceiving the Lord in this way, conveyed his longing to Him. By the grace of the Lord, he was able to see Him later as will be described. It will be told in the sequels how ‘...full of wonders, infinite, and with faces in all directions.. .and remaining in a particular spot, the whole universe with its manifold divisions etc.’ (11.11-13) was seen by Arjuna.

To show favour to me, who is deluded by the misconception that the body is the self, these words of supreme mystery concerned with the self, i.e., which is a proper description of the self, have been spoken by You in words beginning from ‘There was never a time when I did not exist’ (2.12) and ending with, ‘Therefore, O Arjuna, become a Yogin’ (6.46). By that this delusion of mine about the self is entirely removed.

Likewise, beginning from the seventh and ending with the tenth discourse, the origination and dissolution of all beings other than You, as issuing from You, the Supreme Self, have been heard at length by me. Your unlimited greatness, immutable and eternal, Your principalship (Sheshitva) over all sentient and non-sentient things, Your supreme greatness consisting of the host of auspicious attributes like knowledge, strength etc., Your being the supporter of all things and actuator of all activities like thinking, blinking etc., have also been heard. Here the term, ‘hi’ (verily) expresses the desire to have the vision which is going to be revealed.

O Supreme Lord, it is certain that it is even as you have described Yourself. O Supreme Person, O ocean of compassion for your dependants! I, however, wish to see or wish to realise directly, Your Lordly form peculiar to you—the form as the sovereign, protector, creator, destroyer, supporter of all, the mine of auspicious attributes, supreme and distinct from all other entities.

If You think that Your form as all-creator, as all-ruler and as all-supporter, can be seen by me, then, O Lord of Yoga—Yoga is the property of having knowledge and other auspicious attributes, for it will be said later on: ‘Behold My Lordly Yoga’ (11.8)—O treasure of knowledge, strength, sovereignty, valour, power and glory which are inconceivable in any one else! Reveal Yourself to me completely. ‘Avyayam’ (completely) is an adverb. The meaning is, ‘Reveal everything about Yourself to me.’

Thus, prayed to by Arjuna, who was desirous to know, and whose voice was therefore choked with fervour, the Lord said as follows to him:

Behold My forms which are the foundation of all, hundreds upon thousands, varied and possessing manifold modes. They are divine, i.e., supernatural. They are multi-formed and multi-coloured like white, black etc. And they are of varied configurations. Behold that form!

Behold in My single form (i.e., the many forms in the one form revealed to Arjuna), the twelve Adityas, eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, the two Ashvins and forty-nine Maruts. This is just illustrative. Behold all those things directly perceived in this world and those described in the Shastras, and also many marvels, not seen before in all the worlds and in all the Shastras.

‘Here’, in this one body of Mine, and even there, gathered together in a single spot, behold the universe with all mobile and immobile entities. Whatever else you desire to see (i.e., Arjuna’s chances of victory), behold that also in one part of this single body.

I shall reveal to you the whole universe in one part of my body. But, with your physical eye, which can see only limited and conditioned things, you cannot behold Me, such as I am, different in kind from everything else and illimitable. So I bestow on you, a divine, namely, supernatural, eye by which you may perceive Me. Behold My Lordly Yoga (sovereign endowment)! Behold My unique Yoga (special power)! The meaning is, ‘Behold My Yoga such as infinite knowledge and such other attributes and endless manifestations of lordly power!’

Having thus spoken, Sri Krishna, who is the great Lord of Yoga, namely, the Lord of supremely wonderful attributes—Shri Krishna who is Narayana, the Supreme Brahman now incarnated as the son of Arjuna’s maternal uncle and seated as a charioteer in his chariot—showed Arjuna, the son of Pritha His paternal aunt, that Lordly form uniquely His own, which is the ground of the entire universe, which is manifold and wonderful, and which rules over everything.

And that form was like this:

‘Divyam’ means resplendent. ‘Anantam’ (boundless) means that form is not limited by time and space because of its being the foundation of the entire universe in the past, present and future. ‘Vishvatomukham’ means facing in all directions. This form is adorned with divine raiments, perfumes, garlands, ornaments and weapons appropriate to it.

He explains the same resplendence expressed by the term ‘Divyam’:

This is for illustrating that His splendour is infinite. The meaning is that it is of the nature of inexhaustible radiance.

‘There’, in that unique and divine body of the God of gods—infinite in length and breadth, with innumerable hands, stomachs, faces and eyes, of immeasurable splendour, equipped with innumerable divine weapons, adorned with innumerable divine ornaments appropriate to itself and with divine garlands and raiments, fragrant with celestial perfumes and full of wonders—, there Arjuna beheld with the appropriate divine eyes granted by the grace of the Lord, the ‘entire universe’ consisting of Prakrti (material Nature) and the selves, all remaining in ‘one single spot,’ namely, at one single point. He beheld ‘the whole universe’ with all its sub-divisions, differentiated into varied and wonderful classes of experiencing beings like Brahma, gods, animals, men, immovables etc., and the places, objects and means of experiences such as earth, ether, Rasatala, Atala, Vitala, Sutala etc. He beheld thus the entire universe as depicted in such texts as those starting with ‘I am the origin of all; from Me proceed everything’ (10.8), ‘Indeed I shall tell you, O Arjuna, My glorious self-manifestations’ (10.19), ‘I am the Self, O Arjuna, dwelling in the hearts of all beings’ (10.20), and ‘Of Adityas, I am Vishnu’ (10.21), and ending with ‘Nothing that moves or does not move exists without Me’ (10.39), and ‘I remain, with a single fraction of Myself sustaining this whole universe’ (10.42).

Then Arjuna became overcome with amazement on seeing the Lord, at a point of whose being this wonderful universe in its entirety stands supported, who enables all things to act, and who is the possessor of a host of auspicious attributes like omniscience. With his hairs standing erect, he bowed down like a stick, and with folded hands, he spoke thus:

O Lord! I behold in Your body all gods and all classes of living beings as also Brahma, the four-faced ruler of the cosmic egg. So too Shiva (Īsha) who is seated in the lotus-seated Brahma, meaning that Shiva abides by the directions of Brahma. So also all the seers of whom the divine seers are the foremost; and lustrous snakes like Vasuki, Takshaka etc.

I behold Your infinite form on all sides with many arms, stomachs, mouths and eyes. O Lord of the universe, namely, the controller of the universe, O Universal Form having the universe as Your body! As You are infinite, therefore, I see no end, no middle and no beginning for You.

I behold you a mass of light shining everywhere, hard to look at, blazing like a burning fire and the sun. You, who are identifiable with Your divine diadem, mace and discus, are indefinable and immeasurable.

You alone are the Supreme ‘Imperishable Person’ indicated as that which ought to be realised in such Upanishadic passages as: ‘Two sciences are to be known’ (Mun.U., 1.1.4). You alone are the ‘Supreme Substratum’ of the universe, i.e., supreme support of this universe. You are ‘immutable’, namely, not liable to mutation. Whatever might be your attributes and divine manifestations, You remain unchanged in Your form. You alone are the guardian of ‘the eternal law’—You who protect the eternal Dharma of the Veda by incarnations like this. I know you are the everlasting Person. I know You are the eternal Person, described in such passages as, ‘I know this great Purusha’ (Tai.A., 3.12.7) and ‘Person who is higher than the high’ (Mun.U., 3.2.8). You, who were till now known to me as the most distinguished of the race of Yadu, have been realised by me now through direct perception as of this nature, i.e., of a nature unknown to me before. Such is the meaning.

I behold You as without beginning, middle and end. Your might is infinite, of unsurpassed excellence. Here the term ‘might’ is used for illustration. The meaning is that You are the sole repository of knowledge, strength, sovereignty, valour, power and glory, one whose excellence cannot be surpassed. Your arms are infinite, i.e., they are countless. This is also for illustration, implying that You have an infinite number of arms, stomachs, feet, mouths etc. The sun and moon are Your eyes; all Your eyes are like the moon and the sun, beaming with grace and power. The grace is directed towards the devotees like the gods who offer salutations etc., and power is directed against Asuras, Rakshasas etc., who are opposed to these. For it will be said later on: ‘The Rakshasas flee on all sides in fear, and all the hosts of Siddhas bow down to You’ (11.36). Your mouth is emitting fire, namely, the fire appropriate for destroying all things, as the Fire of Time consumes the world at the time of dissolution. With Your own radiance You are warming the universe. By radiance (Tejas) is meant the power to vanquish others. I behold You warming (or governing) the universe with Your own radiance. The meaning is this: ‘I directly realise You’ as taught before as the Creator of all, as the supporter of everything, as the sovereign over everything, as the destroyer of everything, as the ocean of knowledge and other infinite attributes, as without beginning, middle and end, and as possessing a divine body of this nature. How, in one divine body, can there be many stomachs etc? This is possible in the following way: From a hip of infinite extent, stomachs etc., as described, branch off upwards. The divine feet etc., branch off downwards. So there is no contradiction in attributing a pair of eyes for each face.

‘On perceiving You to be thus, the gods etc., and myself, have become frightened—says Arjuna in the following words:

The terms, ‘heaven and earth,’ imply all the upper and lower worlds. The ‘Antara’, or that between heaven and earth, denotes the space between them in which are located all the worlds. You alone pervade all the space and all the quarters. ‘Beholding Your marvellous and terrible form,’ beholding Your form of infinite length and extent, marvellous and terrible, the three worlds are trembling. Gods headed by Brahma, the Asuras, the manes, the Siddhas, the Gandharvas, the Yakshas, and Rakshasas have come with a desire to see the battle. All the ‘three worlds’ consisting of these friendly, antagonistic and neutral beings are extremely frightened. ‘Mahatman’ means one, the dimension of whose mind has no limits. It has to be understood that like Arjuna, other beings also were granted by the Lord the divine eye capable of directly perceiving the Form which supports the universe. If it be asked why, the reply is that it was for demonstrating to Arjuna His sovereignty. Hence it is stated here: ‘Beholding Your marvellous and terrible form, O Mahatman, the three worlds are greatly overwhelmed with fear.’

These hosts of superior Devas beholding You as the foundation of the universe, rejoice and move towards You. Among them, some in fear, on seeing Your extremely terrible and wonderful form, ‘extol’, namely pronounce sentences in the form of praise, according to their knowledge. Others, the bands of seers and Siddhas, knowers of the truth, higher and lower, saying ‘Hail’, glorify You in hymns of abounding praise which are suitable to the Lord.

Ushmapa means manes, because the Shruti declares: ‘Verily the manes receive the hot portions of the offerings’ (Tai.Br., 1.3.10). All these, struck with amazement, behold You.

Beholding Your mighty form, as described earlier, which is an exceedingly terrifying figure because of the large teeth—all the worlds, described earlier and containing three kinds of beings, friendly, antagonistic and neutral, and I myself too have become panic-stricken.

The term ‘Nabhas’ denotes the Supreme Heaven (Parama-Vyoman), which is beyond the Prakrti composed of the three Gunas as established by the Shruti passages such as: ‘That is in the Imperishable Supreme Heaven’ (Ma.Na.U., 1.2), ‘Him, sun-coloured and beyond Tamas’ (Shve., 3.8) ‘The dweller beyond the Rajas’ (Ṛg.S., 2.6.25.5) and ‘He who is the president in the Supreme Heaven’ (Ṛg.S., 8.9.17.7). This can be understood as implied in the statement that ‘the form touches the Supreme Heaven.’ It expresses the idea that it is the foundation of all—of the principle of the Prakrti with its conditions, and of the individual selves in all states. It has also been initially declared: ‘For by You alone are pervaded the interspace of heaven and earth ‘ (11.20).’Beholding Your form shining, multicoloured, and with yawning mouths and large and resplendent eyes, my inner being trembles in fear. I am unable to find support, namely, I am unable to find support for the body. I am unable to get peace of mind and of the senses. O Vishnu, namely, O Pervader, beholding You pervading everything, incomparable in magnitude, extremely wonderful and terrible, I find my limbs quivering and my senses agitated.’ Such is the meaning.

Looking at Your mouths, extremely terrifying and like cosmic fire at the end of the universe, and operating for the destruction of everything, I have lost the sense of recognising the quarters of the sky, nor do I feel happy and peaceful. O Abode of all the worlds, O Lord of all the Devas, namely, O Overlord of even gods like Brahma! Be gracious unto me. The meaning is: ‘Do act in such a way that I may attain my natural condition.’

Arjuna’s charioteer (Parthasarathi), thus showing that all the worlds depend upon Him for their existence and activities, showed to the son of Prtha (Arjuna) that what He wanted to do, making Arjuna a mere instrument of His, was to lighten the burden of the earth through the destruction of all those who were of Asuric manifestations and who, in the guise of kings, were presenting themselves as the sons of Dhrtarashtra and their followers. Many such embodiments of Asuras were present also in the ranks of Yudhishthira’s followers. And Arjuna, after having realised with the divine eyes, received through His grace, the complete manifestation of the Lord as the Creator etc., witnessed also the slaughter of the followers of the sons of Dhrtarashtra etc., in that Lord Himself, who is the Self of all, even though it (the slaughter) had not happened actually according to human calculations. Arjuna continues:

All these sons of Dhrtarashtra like Duryodhana and others like Bhishma, Drona, and Suta’s son Karna together with the hosts of monarchs on their side and also the leading warriors on our side, are hastening to their destruction; they enter Your fearful mouths with terrible fangs; some, caught between the teeth are seen with their heads crushed to powder.

These innumerable kings rush to their destruction in Your flaming mouths, even as many torrents of rivers flow towards the ocean and moths rush into a blazing fire.

Devouring all these kings with Your flaming mouths, You lick them up, namely, lick up again and again in great anger. Your lips etc., are wet with their blood. Your fiery rays scorch the universe by the brilliant flow of radiance filling the whole universe.

You have manifested Yourself in this terrible form for revealing Your limitless sovereignty as requested by me thus: ‘Reveal Yourself to me completely’ (11.4), so that I may realise Your limitless sovereignty.

Who are You of this terrible form, what do You intend to do? I wish to know. For I do not know Your intended actions. Tell me this. Salutations to You, O Supreme God! Salutations to You, Lord of everything! Say with what object and for what purpose You have assumed this form of the destroyer. Assume a pleasing form.

The Lord, the charioteer of Arjuna, being questioned, ‘What is Your intention in assuming a terrible form when revealing Your cosmic sovereignty out of overflowing love for Your proteges?’—He spoke to the following effect: The manifestation of a terrible form by Me is to point out that I Myself am operative for the annihilation of the entire world of kings headed by the sons of Dhrtarashtra, without any effort on your (Arjuna’s) part. Reminding Arjuna of this, is to goad him to fight:

Kala (Time) is the calculator which calculates (Kalayati). Calculating the end of the lives of all those under the leadership of Dhrtarashtra’s sons, I am causing their destruction. Fully manifesting Myself with this fierce form, I have begun to destroy the hosts of kings. Therefore, by My will, even without you, namely, even without your effort, all these hostile warriors under the leadership of Dhrtarastra’s sons, shall cease to be, i.e., will be destroyed.

Therefore, arise for fighting against them. Conquering your enemies, win glory and enjoy a prosperous and righteous kingdom. All those who have sinned have been already annihilated by Me. Be you merely an instrument (Nimitta) of Mine in destroying them—just like a weapon in my hand, O Savyasacin! The root ‘Sac’ means ‘fastening’. A ‘savyasacin is one who is capable of fixing or fastening the arrow even with his left hand. The meaning is that he is so dexterous that he can fight with a bow in each hand.

Slay Drona, Bhishma, Karna etc., who have been chosen for destruction by Me alone, as they have transgressed the law of righteousness. Be not distressed, considering, ‘How can I slay these teachers, relations and others who are attached to enjoyments?’ Do not be thus distressed by thinking about the right and wrong of it, or out of love and compassion for them. These persons are guilty of unrighteousness by siding with the evil-minded Duryodhana. They have been chosen by Me alone for destruction. Therefore fight without doubt. You shall conquer your enemies in battle. In slaying them, there is not the slightest trace of cruelty. The purport is that victory is the sure result.

Having heard the speech of Krishna, ocean of affection for the seekers of refuge in Him, Arjuna did obeisance to Him. Trembling with fear, he bowed again and again before Him. With folded palms, and trembling, Arjuna spoke in a choked voice with emotion.

‘Sthane’ means rightly or it is but proper. It is but proper that the whole world of gods, Gandharvas, Siddhas, Yakshas, Kinnaras, Kimpurushas etc., who have foregathered with a desire to see the battle, should be delighted with You and love You after beholding You by Your grace. You are the Lord of all. Rightly after beholding You, the Rakshasas flee in fear on all sides, and rightly all the host of Siddhas, namely, the host of Siddhas who are favourable to You, pay their homage to You. The connection with what was said earlier is that all this is as it ought to be.

He further proceeds to explain how all this is right:

And why should they not, O Mahatman, bow down to You who are great, being the first Creator, even of Brahma?

O Mahatman, for what reason should Brahma and others not bow down to You, who are great and are the First Being and the Creator even of Brahma, namely, Hiranyagarbha? O Infinite, O Lord of the gods, O You who have the universe for Your abode! You are the ‘Akshara’. What does not perish, is the Akshara, here, the ‘principle of individual self'; for the individual self does not perish as established in Shruti passages: ‘The intelligent self is not born, nor dies’ (Ka.U., 1 .2.18). You alone are the ‘existent and the non-existent,’ the principle of Prakrti, in its condition as effect and in its condition as cause. This is denoted by the terms ‘Sat’ (existent) and ‘Asat’ (non-existent). You alone are the state of effect denoted by the term ‘Sat’, which is the state of diversification by names and forms, and also the state of cause, denoted by the term ‘Asat’, which is the state incapable of such divisions and diversities. ‘What is beyond both’—what is beyond Prakrti and the individual self associated with the Prakrti, as also from the principle of liberated selves who are different from those associated with Prakrti, i.e., bound souls. You alone are that also.

O Mahatman, for what reason should Brahma and others not bow down to You, who are great and are the First Being and the Creator even of Brahma, namely, Hiranyagarbha? O Infinite, O Lord of the gods, O You who have the universe for Your abode! You are the ‘Akshara’. What does not perish, is the Akshara, here, the ‘principle of individual self'; for the individual self does not perish as established in Shruti passages: ‘The intelligent self is not born, nor dies’ (Ka.U., 1 .2.18). You alone are the ‘existent and the non-existent,’ the principle of Prakrti, in its condition as effect and in its condition as cause. This is denoted by the terms ‘Sat’ (existent) and ‘Asat’ (non-existent). You alone are the state of effect denoted by the term ‘Sat’, which is the state of diversification by names and forms, and also the state of cause, denoted by the term ‘Asat’, which is the state incapable of such divisions and diversities. ‘What is beyond both’—what is beyond Prakrti and the individual self associated with the Prakrti, as also from the principle of liberated selves who are different from those associated with Prakrti, i.e., bound souls. You alone are that also.

Therefore:

You alone are all the knowers and all that must be known. You alone, abiding thus as the Self of all, are the ‘Dhaman’ (abode), namely, the goal to be attained. By You, O infinite of form, is the universe pervaded. By You the universe, composed of conscient beings and non-conscient matter, is ‘Tatam’, pervaded. You are the Primal God, the Ancient Person. You are the supreme resting place of the universe. The meaning is that You are the supreme foundation of the universe which constitutes Your body, as You are its Self. [It is to be noted how Ramanuja derives here the meaning of ‘individual self’ for the word Akshara, which helps him to explain ‘Kutasth’ oksharaucchyate’ in 15.16]

Arjuna says:‘Therefore You alone are expressed by the terms Vayu etc.’

You alone are the great-grandsire of all and also grandfather etc. The Prajapatis are the fathers of all creatures. Hiranyagarbha (Brahma), the father of the Prajapatis, is the grandsire of all creatures. You, being the father of even Hiranyagarbha, are great grandfather of all creatures. You alone are denoted by the several terms by which these beings are known. Such is the meaning.

Beholding the Lord in a most marvellous form, Arjuna, bent with great awe, saluted Him from all sides with his eyes widely open from joy.

Salutation to You from before and behind! Salutation to You from all sides, O All!...

You, of infinite prowess and measureless heroic action, pervade all beings as their very Self and therefore, are, in reality all of them. Terms, naming all other entities, are truly naming You: for they, both sentient as well as non-sentient, constitute Your body, and as such are just Your modes. Therefore You alone, having them all as Your modes, are signified by all terms standing for them. In the texts, ‘O by You of infinite form, is the cosmos pervaded’ (11.38) and ‘You pervade all and hence are all’ (11.40), it is clearly stated that the pervasion as the Self is the only rationale for speaking of them as one with You, in the sense of co-ordinate predication as in the text, ‘You are the imperishable and also being and non-being’ (11.37) and ‘You are Vayu, Yama and Agni’ (11.39).

Infinite power, boundless valour, being the Inner Self of everything, being the creator etc., these constitute Your majesty. Being ignorant of this, and considering You only as a friend, and out of consequent love, or negligence born of life-long familiarity, whatever has been said rudely, without showing courtesy, such as ‘O Krishna, O Yadava, O Comrade’; and whatever disrespect has been shown to You in jest, while playing or resting, while sitting or eating, while alone or in the sight of others—for all these I beseech forgiveness of You who are incomprehensible.

O Being of matchless greatness! You are the father of this world, of all that moves and does not move. You are the teacher of this world. Therefore You are the one most worthy of reverence in this world of mobile and immobile entities. There is none equal to You. How then could there be in the three worlds another greater than You? No other being is equal to You in point of any attribute like compassion etc. How could there be any one greater?

Inasmuch as You are the father of all, the most worthy of reverence, teacher and exalted over all by virtue of attributes like compassion etc.,

Therefore, bowing down and prostrating, I implore You, O adorable Lord, for Your mercy. Just as, when entreated with salutation, a father will show mercy to his son, or a friend to a friend, even if he has been at fault, even so it is meet that You, most compassionate and dear to me, should bear with me, who is dear to You in all respects.

Seeing Your form, never seen before, extremely marvellous and awe-inspiring, I am delighted,transported with love. But my mind is also troubled with awe. Hence reveal to me only Your most gracious form. Be gracious, O Lord of all gods! O Abode of the universe! Show me that form, O gracious Lord of all the gods headed by Brahma, and the foundation of the entire universe!

I wish to see You thus, as before, with a crown, and with a mace and discus in hand. Hence assume again that four-armed shape, shown to me before, O thousand-armed one of Universal Form! Assume that shape in place of what You have now revealed with thousand arms and a cosmic body. Such is the meaning.

This ‘luminous’ form of Mine is a mass of luminosity. It is ‘universal’ i.e., constitutes the Self of the universe. It is ‘infinite’, endless. This is illustrated by describing it as having no beginning, middle or end. It is ‘primeval’, namely, it constitutes the foundation of all beings other than Myself. It has never been seen before by any one other than you. Such a form is now revealed to you, who are My devotee, by Me who am gracious, by My own Yoga, namely, by the power of willing the truth associated with Me.

Shri Krishna proceeds to say, ‘It is not possible that I can be realised as I am, through any means except exclusive Bhakti.’

In this form, which represents My real nature, I cannot be realised by such means as study of the Vedas, sacrifices etc., by anyone who is bereft of exclusive Bhakti towards Me or by any one other than yourself who has complete devotion towards Me.

Whatever fear and whatever perplexity have been caused to you by seeing My terrible form, may it cease now. I shall show you the benign form to which you were accustomed before. Behold now that form of Mine.

Having spoken thus to Arjuna, the Lord, the son of Vasudeva, revealed His own four-armed form. And the Mahatman, i.e., one whose resolves are always true, reassured him who was terror-stricken on seeing an unfamiliar form, by resuming the familiar pleasant form. Possession of His own four-armed form alone is proper to this Lord of all, the Supreme Person, the Supreme Brahman, when he has assumed the human form for blessing this world as the son of Vasudeva. But in answer to the prayer of Vasudeva, who was terrified by Kamsa, the two extra armsh were withdrawn till the destruction of Kamsa. These became manifest again. For He was prayed to thus: ‘You are born, O Lord, O Lord of gods, withdraw this form bearing conch, discus and mace out of grace.. .withdraw this form of four arms, O Self of all’ (V.P., 5.3.10 and 13). Even to Shishupala, who hated Him, this form of four arms of Shri Krishna was the object of constant thought, as described in: ‘Him who is of four long and robust arms, bearing the conch, discus and the mace’ (V.P., 4.15.10). Hence Arjuna also exclaimed here; ‘Assume again that four-armed shape’ (11.46).

Having beheld this pleasing and unique form of Yours, human in configuration, endowed with grace, tenderness, beauty etc., the excellence of which is infinite, I have now become composed, and I am restored to my normal nature.

This form of Mine which you have seen, and which has the whole universe under control, which is the foundation of all and which forms the origin of all—this cannot be beheld by any one. Even the gods ever long to see this form; but they have not seen it.

Why? Sri Krishna says:

By Vedas, i.e., by mere study, teaching etc., of these sacred texts, it is not possible to know Me truly. It is also not possible through meditation, sacrifices, gifts and austerities, destitute of devotion towards Me. But by single-minded devotion i.e., by devotion characterised by extreme ardour and intensity, it is possible to know Me in reality through scriptures, to behold Me directly in reality, and enter into Me in reality. So describes a Shruti passage: ‘This Self cannot be obtained by instruction, nor by intellect nor by much hearing. Whomsoever He chooses, by him alone is He obtained. To such a one He reveals His own form’ (Ka.U., 2.2.23) and (Mun.U., 3.2.3).

Whosoever performs all acts like the study of the Vedas described above, considering them as several modes of worship, ‘he works for Me.’ He who ‘looks upon Me as the highest,’ namely, one to whom I alone am the highest purpose in all his enterprises, has Me as ‘the highest end.’ He who is ‘devoted to me,’ i.e., is greatly devoted to me and hence unable to sustain himself without reciting My names, praising Me, meditating upon Me, worshipping Me, saluting Me etc., he who performs these always considering Me as the supreme end—he is My devotee. He is ‘free from attachments,’ as he is attached to Me alone, and is therefore unable to have attachment to any other entity. He who is without hatred towards any being, is one who fulfils all the following conditions: his nature is to feel pleasure or pain solely on account of his union or separation from Me; he considers his own sins to be the cause of his sufferings (and not the work of others); he is confirmed in his faith that all beings are dependent on the Parama-purusha. For all these reasons he has no hatred for any one.