Chapter 11, Verse 45
अदृष्टपूर्वं हृषितोऽस्मि दृष्ट्वा भयेन च प्रव्यथितं मनो मे | तदेव मे दर्शय देव रूपं प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास ||११-४५||
adṛṣṭapūrvaṃ hṛṣito.asmi dṛṣṭvā bhayena ca pravyathitaṃ mano me . tadeva me darśaya deva rūpaṃ prasīda deveśa jagannivāsa ||11-45||
Meaning
11.45 I am delighted, having seen what has never been seen before; and yet my mind is distressed with fear. Show me that (previous) form only, O God; have mercy, O God of gods, O Abode of the universe.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Arjuna speaks with disarming honesty of his divided heart. He is hrsitah — thrilled and delighted — to have seen what was adrsta-purvam, never witnessed before. And in the same breath he admits his mind is bhayena pravyathitam, distressed with fear. Wonder and terror coexist within him; the vision has been both a blessing and an unbearable strain.
So he makes a humble request: tat eva me darsaya — 'show me that (former) form again', the gentle, familiar shape of Krishna. He has glimpsed the infinite and now longs for the intimate. This is no failure of devotion but a deep wisdom about human capacity. The cosmic vision was necessary to dispel his illusions, yet the soul also needs the Divine in a form it can love and approach. Arjuna's plea honours both: he does not deny the vastness he has seen, but asks to return to the nearness through which his heart can find rest and peace.
💡 Key Takeaway
The soul needs the Divine both in its vastness and in an intimate form the heart can love and approach.
Related Verses
अर्जुन उवाच | मदनुग्रहाय परमं गुह्यमध्यात्मसंज्ञितम् | यत्त्वयोक्तं वचस्तेन मोहोऽयं विगतो मम ||११-१||
arjuna uvāca . madanugrahāya paramaṃ guhyamadhyātmasaṃjñitam . yattvayoktaṃ vacastena moho.ayaṃ vigato mama ||11-1||
11.1 Arjuna said By this word (explanation) of the highest secret concerning the Self which Thou hast spoken, for the sake of blessing me, my delusion is gone.
भवाप्ययौ हि भूतानां श्रुतौ विस्तरशो मया | त्वत्तः कमलपत्राक्ष माहात्म्यमपि चाव्ययम् ||११-२||
bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṃ śrutau vistaraśo mayā . tvattaḥ kamalapatrākṣa māhātmyamapi cāvyayam ||11-2||
11.2 The origin and the destruction of beings verily have been heard by me in detail from Thee, O lotus-eyed Lord, and also Thy inexhaustible greatness.
एवमेतद्यथात्थ त्वमात्मानं परमेश्वर | द्रष्टुमिच्छामि ते रूपमैश्वरं पुरुषोत्तम ||११-३||
evametadyathāttha tvamātmānaṃ parameśvara . draṣṭumicchāmi te rūpamaiśvaraṃ puruṣottama ||11-3||
11.3 (Now) O Supreme Lord, as Thou hast thus described Thyself, O Supreme Person, I wish to see Thy divine form.