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Chapter 11 · The Universal Form · 55 verses

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Questions & crisisChapter 11 · The Universal Form
11.111.3

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 11.2

Arjuna requests the universal form

भवाप्ययौ हि भूतानां श्रुतौ विस्तरशो मया ।

त्वत्त: कमलपत्राक्ष माहात्म्यमपि चाव्ययम् ॥ २ ॥

bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṁ

śrutau vistaraśo mayā

tvattaḥ kamala-patrākṣa

māhātmyam api cāvyayam

Translation

O lotus-eyed one, I have heard from You in detail about the appearance and disappearance of every living entity and have realized Your inexhaustible glories.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

Kṛṣṇa’s Unending Glories

  1. 1Arjuna has heard how every living being appears and disappears, and has realized Kṛṣṇa’s unending glories.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that Kṛṣṇa is the source of the material world, yet remains apart from its appearance and disappearance.
  3. 3Like Arjuna, listen to Kṛṣṇa’s teachings to understand His glories.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 11, The Universal Form: arjuna requests the universal form.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Honest questions open the way to wisdom.

2

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: saṁśaya, viṣāda.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 11.2 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to questions & crisis?

Practice

Write down the real question behind your current dilemma.

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Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 11.1Arjuna requests the universal formBG 11.3Arjuna requests the universal formBG 1.28Compassion entangled with attachmentBG 1.46The bow falls

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

Ask the study guide

Ask about BG 11.2 — get a simple answer linked to related ideas and verses.

Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.