Shloka 116

Devanagari script

बभूव रूपमत्युग्रं सर्वभूतात्मनस्तदा । इस प्रकार पिशाच, नाग तथा राक्षसोंका संहार करनेवाले सर्वभूतात्मा भगवान्‌ श्रीकृष्णका स्वरूप उस समय बड़ा भयंकर जान पड़ता था

Transliteration

babhūva rūpam atyugraṁ sarvabhūtātmanas tadā |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Zu jener Zeit erschien die Gestalt des Herrn—des Sarvabhūtātman, der als Selbst in allen Wesen wohnt und Piśācas, Nāgas und Rākṣasas vernichtet—überaus furchterregend und wild.

Word by Word

• बभूव: became/was
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद), परोक्षभूत/परफेक्ट, 3, singular

• रूपम्: form/appearance
• रूपम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• अति-उग्रम्: exceedingly fierce/terrible
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उग्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• सर्व-भूत-आत्मनः: of the Self/Soul of all beings
• सर्व-भूत-आत्मनः: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वभूतात्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, genitive, singular

• तदा: then/at that time
• तदा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा
• Form: true

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Sarvabhūtātman (the indwelling Self of all beings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that the divine, though the inner Self of all beings, may manifest a fearsome form when restoring dharma—fierceness here serves protection and the removal of destructive forces rather than cruelty.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes a moment when the Lord’s appearance becomes extraordinarily terrifying, signaling imminent or ongoing subjugation of harmful beings and the assertion of moral-cosmic order.