13. tatrai 'kastham jagat krtsnam
pravibhaktam anekadha
apasyad devwdevasya
sarire pandavas 'tada
(13) There the Pandava (Arjuna) beheld the whole universe with its manifold divisions gathered together in one, in the body of the God of gods Arjuna had the vision of the One in the many and the many in the One. All things remain the same and yet all are changed. There is astonishment at the disappearance of the familiar land-marks of the everyday world. Everything is interfused, each with each and mirrors the whole. The vision is a revelation of the potential divinity of all earthly life.
Arjuna Addresses the Lord
14. tatah sa vismaydvista
hr taroma dhanamjayah
pranarnya sirasa
devamkrtãñjalir abhasata
(14) Then he, the Winner of wealth (Arjuna), struck with amazement, his hair standing on end, bowed down his head to the Lord, with hands folded (in salutation), said : In an agony of awe, his hair uplift, his head on high, his hands clasped in supplication, Arjuna adores.
arjuna uvaca
15. pasyami devams tava deva dehe
sarvdms tatha bhutavisesascmghan
brahmanam isam kamalcisanastham
rsims` ca sarvan uragams ca divydn
Arjuna said:
(15) In Thy body, 0 God, I see all the gods and the varied hosts of beings as well, Brahma, the lord seated on the lotus throne and all the sages and heavenly nagas
The vision of God widens our horizon and takes us beyond the earthly tumults and sorrows which so easily obsess us. God's creation is not limited to this small planet, which is only an insignificant part of the cosmos. Arjuna sees the great and various company of spirits filling the universe.
16. anekabdhudaravaktranetram
pasyami tvam sarvato 'nantarupam
na 'ntam na madhyam na punas tava 'dim pasydmi visvesvara visvarupa
(16) I behold Thee, infinite in form on all sides, with number-less arms, bellies, faces and eyes, but I see not Thy end or Thy middle or Thy beginning, 0 Lord of the universe. 0 Form Universal.
vaktra: faces or mouths.
17. kiritinam gadinam cakrinam ca
tejorasim sarvato diptimantam
pasyami tvam durniriksyam samantad
diptanaldrkadyutim aprameyam
(17) I behold Thee with Thy crown, mace and discus, glowing everywhere as a mass of light, hard to discern, (dazzling) on all sides with the radiance of the flaming fire and sun, incomparable.
18. tvam aksaram paramam veditavyam
tvam asya visvasya param nidhanam
tvam avyayah sasvatadharmagopta
sanatanas tvam puruso mat o me
(18) Thou art the Imperishable, the Supreme to be realized. Thou art the ultimate resting-place of the universe ; Thou art the undying guardian of the eternal law Thou art the Primal Person, I think. aksaram: imperishable. Arjuna states that the Supreme Is both Brahman, and I vara, Absolute and God.[1] sdsvatadharmagoptd: the undying guardian of the eternal law. Abhinavagupta reads sattvatadharniago pta, the guardian of the sattvata dharma.
19. anadimadhyantam anantaviryam
anantabahum gagisiiryanetram
pasyami tvam diptahutdsavaktram
svatejasd visvam idam tapantam
(19) I behold Thee as one without beginning, middle or end, of infinite power, of numberless arms, with the moon and the sun as Thine eyes, with Thy face as a flaming fire, whose radiance burns up this universe
20. dyavaprthivyor idam antaram hi
vyaptam tvayai ; kena disas` ca
sarvah drstva 'dbhutam rupam ugram
tave 'dam lokatrayam pravyathitam mahatman
(20) This space between heaven and earth is pervaded by Thee alone, also all the quarters (directions of the sky) o Exalted One, when this wondrous, terrible form of Thine is seen, the three worlds tremble
