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
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||
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||
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||
(Now) O Supreme Lord, as Thou hast thus described Thyself, O Supreme Person, I wish to see Thy divine form.