Bhagavad Gita · 11.4 · Yoga through Beholding the Cosmic Form of God·4 of 55
मन्यसे यदि तच्छक्यं मया द्रष्टुमिति प्रभो।योगेश्वर ततो मे त्वं दर्शयाऽत्मानमव्ययम् ॥
manyase yadi tach chhakyaṁ mayā draṣhṭum iti
prabho yogeśhvara tato me tvaṁ darśhayātmānam avyayam
Sanskrit recitation
Show me your form · 11.1–11.8 · Scene
Translation
If Thou, O Lord, thinkest it possible for me to see it, do Thou, then, O Lord of the Yogis, show me Thy imperishable Self.
Meaning
Arjuna is very keen and eager to see the Cosmic Form of the Lord. He prays to Him to grant him the vision. This supreme vision can be obtained only through His grace.Yogesvara also means the Lord of Yoga. A Yogi is one who is endowed with the eight psychic powers (Siddhis). The Lord of the Yogins is Yogesvara. And, Yoga is identity of the individual soul with the Absolute. He who is able to bestow this realisation of identity on the deserving spiritual aspirant is Yogesvara.He Who is able to create, preserve, destroy, veil and graciously release is the Lord. (These five actions, Panchakriyas, are known respectively as Srishti, Sthiti, Samhara, Tirodhana and Anugraha.)
After Swami Sivananda
Show me your form· 11.1–11.8→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 11.1Arjuna said, By this explanation of the highest secret concerning the Self which Thou hast spoken, for the sake of blessing me, my delusion has been dispelled.
- 11.2The origin and destruction of beings have been heard in detail from You, O lotus-eyed Lord, and also Your inexhaustible greatness.
- 11.3Now, O Supreme Lord, as Thou hast thus described Thyself, O Supreme Person, I wish to behold Thy divine form.
11.4If Thou, O Lord, thinkest it possible for me to see it, do Thou, then, O Lord of the Yogis, show me Thy imperishable Self.
- 11.5The Blessed Lord said, "Behold, O Arjuna, forms of Mine, by the hundreds and thousands, of different sorts, divine, and of various colors and shapes."
- 11.6Behold the Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the two Asvins, and the Maruts; behold many wonders never before seen, O Arjuna.
- 11.7Now, behold, O Arjuna, in this My body, the entire universe centered in one, including the moving and the unmoving, and whatever else you desire to see.
- 11.8But you are not able to behold Me with these your own eyes; I give you the divine eye; behold My lordly Yoga.
Word-by-word→
- manyase
- you think
- yadi
- if
- tat
- that
- śhakyam
- possible
- mayā
- by me
- draṣhṭum
- to behold
- iti
- thus
- prabho
- Lord
- yoga-īśhvara
- Lord of all mystic powers
- tataḥ
- then
- me
- to me
- tvam
- you
- darśhaya
- reveal
- ātmānam
- yourself
- avyayam
- imperishable
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