Krishna governs creation and destruction.
Arjuna speaks to Krishna
लेलिह्यसे ग्रसमानः समन्ताल्-लोकान्समग्रान्वदनैर्ज्वलद्भिः |तेजोभिरापूर्य जगत्समग्रंभासस्तवोग्राः प्रतपन्ति विष्णो ||११-३०||
lelihyase grasamānaḥ samantāl- lokānsamagrānvadanairjvaladbhiḥ . tejobhirāpūrya jagatsamagraṃ bhāsastavogrāḥ pratapanti viṣṇo ||11-30||
Use this verse when endings feel overwhelming.
Meaning
You lick and devour all worlds from every side with blazing mouths. Your fierce radiance fills the entire universe and burns, O Vishnu.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Krishna’s cosmic radiance fills and consumes the universe.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
This verse shows the terrifying totality of divine time. The seeker learns that Krishna is not only the giver of comfort but the Lord of cosmic transformation.
Read the traditional commentary
The image reaches its most overwhelming pitch. Arjuna sees Krishna lelihyase — licking up the worlds on every side with flaming mouths, devouring all creation. The fierce rays of the form fill the whole universe and scorch it with their heat. The Divine is here revealed unmistakably as the consumer of all that exists.
He addresses Krishna as Vishnu, the all-pervading sustainer — and in that name lies the great paradox. The one who pervades and upholds is the very same who devours. Preservation and destruction are not the work of opposing powers but of a single Reality.
This is the mature spiritual vision the Gita demands: to recognise that the force which gives life and the force which takes it are one. Such a truth cannot be domesticated into a comfortable image of a merely benevolent deity. The Divine is vast enough to hold both the cradle and the grave, the light that nourishes and the fire that consumes.
In daily life
Accept transformation as part of divine reality.
A person losing an old identity may see it as painful but transformative.
Try this today
Name one ending and one possible transformation within it.
Krishna transforms what I cannot hold forever.Reflect
What is being transformed in my life?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘तेजोभिः आपूर्य’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on paradox, in other chapters
- Verse 9.4The Divine holds all of existence within it, yet remains free and unconfined by anything it sustains.
- Verse 13.15Like light that reveals every colour yet takes on none, the Self enables all experience while remaining untouched.
- Verse 16.9A mind that loses its higher vision shrinks into cruelty, and its small thinking ripples outward as harm to the whole world.
- Verse 7.6All that is born and all that dissolves rests in the one Source — so meet creation and loss alike with steady trust.
Swipe left for 11.31 · Ask for meaning when reality overwhelms you.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 11.30
Who says Bhagavad Gita 11.30, and to whom?
Arjuna speaks to Krishna in verse 11.30, in Chapter 11, Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga (Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 11.30 mean?
You lick and devour all worlds from every side with blazing mouths. Your fierce radiance fills the entire universe and burns, O Vishnu. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 11.30 for daily life?
Accept transformation as part of divine reality. A person losing an old identity may see it as painful but transformative.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 11.30 mean?
लेलिह्यसे — You lick up / devour repeatedly; ग्रसमानः — swallowing / devouring; समन्तात् — on all sides; लोकान् समग्रान् — all the worlds; वदनैः ज्वलद्भिः — with flaming mouths.
Where does verse 11.30 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 30 of 55 in Chapter 11, Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga. The next verse is 11.31.