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Chapter 11 · The Universal Form · 55 verses

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Questions & crisisChapter 11 · The Universal Form
11.2411.26

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 11.25

Awe and terror at the universal form

दंष्ट्राकरालानि च ते मुखानि

दृष्ट्वैव कालानलसन्निभानि ।

दिशो न जाने न लभे च शर्म

प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास ॥ २५ ॥

daṁṣṭrā-karālāni ca te mukhāni

dṛṣṭvaiva kālānala-sannibhāni

diśo na jāne na labhe ca śarma

prasīda deveśa jagan-nivāsa

Translation

O Lord of lords, O refuge of the worlds, please be gracious to me. I cannot keep my balance seeing thus Your blazing deathlike faces and awful teeth. In all directions I am bewildered.

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.

A Prayer for Mercy

  1. 1Seeing the Lord’s blazing, deathlike faces and awful teeth, the speaker loses balance and feels bewildered in every direction.
  2. 2The prayer calls the Lord the refuge of the worlds and asks Him to be gracious.
  3. 3When bewildered, turn to the Lord and ask for His mercy.

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 11.25 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 11.25 — 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.