Chapter 11, Verse 8
न तु मां शक्यसे द्रष्टुमनेनैव स्वचक्षुषा | दिव्यं ददामि ते चक्षुः पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् ||११-८||
na tu māṃ śakyase draṣṭumanenaiva svacakṣuṣā . divyaṃ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ paśya me yogamaiśvaram ||11-8||
Meaning
11.8 But thou art not able to behold Me with these thine own eyes; I give thee the divine eye; behold My lordly Yoga.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Before the vision can dawn, Krishna names its precondition. The ordinary sva-caksu, the physical eye, cannot perceive the infinite — na tu mam sakyase drastum, 'you are not able to see Me' with such an instrument. So He bestows a divya caksu, a divine eye, the inner faculty of spiritual perception.
This is one of the Gita's most important teachings about realization. The Divine is not seen by sharpening the senses we already possess, but by receiving a wholly new capacity — and that capacity is a gift of grace, not an achievement of effort. The same is true of every genuine spiritual insight: a moment comes when something shifts, and we suddenly perceive what was always there but invisible to us. We prepare ourselves, we long, we ask — but the opening of the inner eye is given. Then, and only then, can Arjuna behold the aisvara yoga, the majestic mystic power, of the Lord.
💡 Key Takeaway
The deepest truths cannot be grasped by ordinary sight; they require an inner eye that is given by grace.
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.
श्रीभगवानुवाच | पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः | नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च ||११-५||
śrībhagavānuvāca . paśya me pārtha rūpāṇi śataśo.atha sahasraśaḥ . nānāvidhāni divyāni nānāvarṇākṛtīni ca ||11-5||
11.5 The Blessed Lord said Behold, O Arjuna, forms of Mine, by the hundreds and thousands, of different sorts, divine, and of various colours and shapes.
पश्यादित्यान्वसून्रुद्रानश्विनौ मरुतस्तथा | बहून्यदृष्टपूर्वाणि पश्याश्चर्याणि भारत ||११-६||
paśyādityānvasūnrudrānaśvinau marutastathā . bahūnyadṛṣṭapūrvāṇi paśyāścaryāṇi bhārata ||11-6||
11.6 Behold the Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the two Asvins and also the Maruts; behold many wonders never seen before, O Arjuna.