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Chapter 11 · The Universal Form · 55 verses

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Questions & crisisChapter 11 · The Universal Form
11.2211.24

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 11.23

Awe and terror at the universal form

रूपं महत्ते बहुवक्‍त्रनेत्रं

महाबाहो बहुबाहूरुपादम् ।

बहूदरं बहुदंष्ट्राकरालं

दृष्ट्वा लोका: प्रव्यथितास्तथाहम् ॥ २३ ॥

rūpaṁ mahat te bahu-vaktra-netraṁ

mahā-bāho bahu-bāhūru-pādam

bahūdaraṁ bahu-daṁṣṭrā-karālaṁ

dṛṣṭvā lokāḥ pravyathitās tathāham

Translation

O mighty-armed one, all the planets with their demigods are disturbed at seeing Your great form, with its many faces, eyes, arms, thighs, legs and bellies and Your many terrible teeth; and as they are disturbed, so am I.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

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

Seeing Your Great Form

  1. 1All the planets and their demigods are disturbed at seeing Your great form.
  2. 2This form has many faces, eyes, arms, thighs, legs and bellies, with many terrible teeth.
  3. 3The speaker is also disturbed, just as they are.

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 11.23 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 11.20Awe and terror at the universal formBG 11.21Awe 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 11.23 — 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.