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Chapter 11 · The Universal Form · 55 verses

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Questions & crisisChapter 11 · The Universal Form
11.1911.21

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 11.20

Awe and terror at the universal form

द्यावापृथिव्योरिदमन्तरं हि

व्याप्‍तं त्वयैकेन दिशश्च सर्वा: ।

दृष्ट्वाद्‍भुतं रूपमुग्रं तवेदं

लोकत्रयं प्रव्यथितं महात्मन् ॥ २० ॥

dyāv ā-pṛthivyor idam antaraṁ hi

vyāptaṁ tvayaikena diśaś ca sarvāḥ

dṛṣṭvādbhutaṁ rūpam ugraṁ tavedaṁ

loka-trayaṁ pravyathitaṁ mahātman

Translation

Although You are one, You spread throughout the sky and the planets and all space between. O great one, seeing this wondrous and terrible form, all the planetary systems are perturbed.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

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

The Lord’s Universal Form

  1. 1Though one, the Lord fills the sky, planets, and all space between. His wondrous and terrible form disturbs all planetary systems.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that Arjuna’s vision was not a dream; others in other planetary systems also saw the Lord’s universal form.
  3. 3All whom the Lord granted divine vision saw His universal form on the battlefield.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 11, The Universal Form: awe and terror at 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.

3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 11.20 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.

4

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 11.21Awe and terror at the universal formBG 11.22Awe and terror at 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 11.20 — 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.