Reality is larger than what we have seen.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
पश्यादित्यान्वसून्रुद्रानश्विनौ मरुतस्तथा |बहून्यदृष्टपूर्वाणि पश्याश्चर्याणि भारत ||११-६||
paśyādityānvasūnrudrānaśvinau marutastathā . bahūnyadṛṣṭapūrvāṇi paśyāścaryāṇi bhārata ||11-6||
Use this verse to awaken spiritual wonder.
Meaning
See the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Ashvins, Maruts, and many wonders never seen before, O Bharata.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Krishna invites Arjuna to see unseen cosmic wonders.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
The Divine vision includes known categories and unknown wonders. This helps people remain open: reality is greater than current understanding.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna directs Arjuna's gaze to the great hosts of celestial beings — the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Asvins and Maruts — the very deities the Vedas hymn as governors of sun, sky, storm and healing. Within the cosmic form, all of them appear as parts of a single body. The gods men worship separately are here shown as facets of the one Reality.
Twice Krishna repeats pasya, 'behold', and calls these sights adrsta-purvani — things never seen before. The point is not mere spectacle. Arjuna is being shown that what he had imagined as the highest powers of the universe are themselves contained within Krishna.
This dissolves any notion of competing divinities. For the spiritual seeker, the message is humbling: whatever wonders we can name or worship, the Source from which they spring is greater still, and holds them all.
In daily life
Stay open to wonder beyond your existing worldview.
A person may discover that spiritual life is deeper than ritual alone.
Try this today
Approach one spiritual idea with fresh openness.
I remain open to divine wonder.Reflect
What unseen wonder might I be closed to?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘आदित्यान्’ mean in this verse?
The Gita on deities, in other chapters
- Verse 10.23No realm of existence stands outside the Divine — the foremost in each reveals one face of the one Lord.
- Verse 2.29Approach the question of your own true nature with wonder and humility rather than intellectual certainty — the self exceeds all its definitions.
- Verse 18.74 · SanjayaSacred wisdom rightly received stirs not cool detachment but thrilled, reverent wonder.
- Verse 15.18The ultimate reality is the Supreme Person, transcending both the changing world and the changeless ground.
Swipe left for 11.7 · All existence is held in Krishna.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 11.6
Who says Bhagavad Gita 11.6, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 11.6, in Chapter 11, Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga (Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 11.6 mean?
See the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Ashvins, Maruts, and many wonders never seen before, O Bharata. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 11.6 for daily life?
Stay open to wonder beyond your existing worldview. A person may discover that spiritual life is deeper than ritual alone.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 11.6 mean?
पश्य — behold; आदित्यान् — the Adityas (solar deities); वसून् — the Vasus; रुद्रान् — the Rudras; अश्विनौ — the two Asvins.
Where does verse 11.6 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 6 of 55 in Chapter 11, Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga. The next verse is 11.7.