Chapter 11, Verse 46
किरीटिनं गदिनं चक्रहस्तं इच्छामि त्वां द्रष्टुमहं तथैव | तेनैव रूपेण चतुर्भुजेन सहस्रबाहो भव विश्वमूर्ते ||११-४६||
kirīṭinaṃ gadinaṃ cakrahastaṃ icchāmi tvāṃ draṣṭumahaṃ tathaiva . tenaiva rūpeṇa caturbhujena sahasrabāho bhava viśvamūrte ||11-46||
Meaning
11.46 I desire to see Thee as before, crowned, bearing a mace, with the discus in hand, in Thy former form only, having four arms, O thousand-armed, Cosmic Form (Being).
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Arjuna makes his longing precise. He wishes to see Krishna once more in the familiar, gracious form — crowned with the kirita, bearing the gada (mace), holding the cakra (discus) in hand, the four-armed shape of Vishnu he knows and loves. After the boundless terror, he yearns for the recognisable emblems of the Lord's beauty.
There is a touching paradox in his address. He still calls Krishna sahasra-baho and visva-murte — 'thousand-armed' and 'Cosmic Form' — even while asking for the gentler four-armed appearance. He does not forget the vastness he has seen; he carries that knowledge into his request for nearness. This is the mature posture of the devotee. Having beheld the infinite, Arjuna chooses to relate to the Divine through a form he can hold in his heart and worship with love. The boundless and the intimate are not in conflict; the seeker simply needs a face to which devotion can be offered, while never forgetting the immensity behind it.
💡 Key Takeaway
After glimpsing the boundless, the devotee returns to a form the heart can hold, without forgetting the immensity behind it.
Related Verses
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.
ततः स विस्मयाविष्टो हृष्टरोमा धनञ्जयः | प्रणम्य शिरसा देवं कृताञ्जलिरभाषत ||११-१४||
tataḥ sa vismayāviṣṭo hṛṣṭaromā dhanañjayaḥ . praṇamya śirasā devaṃ kṛtāñjalirabhāṣata ||11-14||
11.14 Then, Arjuna, filled with wonder and with his hair standing on end, bowed down his head to the God and spoke with joined palms.