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Chapter 11 · The Universal Form · 55 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Questions & crisisChapter 11 · The Universal Form
11.111.3

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 11.2

Arjuna requests the universal form

Īśvara · God

भवाप्ययौ हि भूतानां श्रुतौ विस्तरशो मया ।

त्वत्त: कमलपत्राक्ष माहात्म्यमपि चाव्ययम् ॥ २ ॥

bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṁ

śrutau vistaraśo mayā

tvattaḥ kamala-patrākṣa

māhātmyam api cāvyayam

Translation

O lotus-eyed one, I have heard from You in detail about the appearance and disappearance of every living entity and have realized Your inexhaustible glories.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Kṛṣṇa’s Unending Glories

  1. 1

    Arjuna has heard how every living being appears and disappears, and has realized Kṛṣṇa’s unending glories.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that Kṛṣṇa is the source of the material world, yet remains apart from its appearance and disappearance.

  3. 3

    Like Arjuna, listen to Kṛṣṇa’s teachings to understand His glories.

Key points from the purport

Arjuna expresses his understanding that “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead”

a

Addresses Krishna as ‘lotus-eyed’ — Out of joy ; after being assured by Krishna that:

He is the source of all creation, maintenance and destruction (As explained in Bg. 7.6 – 7.7)

‘’He is still aloof’’ (Inconceivable opulence as explained in Bg. 9.4 – 9.5)

Further reading

Arjuna’s Request And Krishna’s Description Of

His universal form

Arjuna requests Krishna to show him the all-pervading, universal form

Krishna first describes His universal form and then bestows upon Arjuna the vision necessary to see it

Chapter 11, section I: Arjuna’s Request And Krishna’s Description Of
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. bhavaappearance
  2. apyayaudisappearance
  3. hicertainly
  4. bhūtānāmof all living entities
  5. śrutauhave been heard
  6. vistaraśaḥin detail
  7. mayāby me
  8. tvattaḥfrom You
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: saṁśaya, viṣāda.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 11.2 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to questions & crisis?

Practice

Write down the real question behind your current dilemma.

5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 11.1Arjuna requests the universal formBG 11.3Arjuna requests the universal formBG 1.28Compassion entangled with attachmentBG 1.46The bow falls
Live this todayArjuna Asks About the LordA practice from BG 11.31, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
Next in Learn · 4 of 9 · 10 minChapters & storiesGo chapter by chapter, with the Mahābhārata stories that explain what is happening.Back · LearnPrabhupāda's Introduction