Shloka 23

Vishwarupa Darshana Yoga — Vishwarupa Darshana Yoga

Devanagari script

रूपं महत्ते बहुवक्त्रनेत्रं महाबाहो बहुबाहूरुपादम् । बहूदरं बहुदंष्ट्राकरालं दृष्ट्वा लोकाः प्रव्यथितास्तथाहम् ॥

Transliteration

rūpaṃ mahat te bahu-vaktra-netraṃ mahā-bāho bahu-bāhūru-pādam | bahūdaraṃ bahu-daṃṣṭrā-karālaṃ dṛṣṭvā lokāḥ pravyathitās tathāham ||

Translation

ఓ మహాబాహో! అనేక ముఖాలు, నేత్రాలు కలిగిన, అనేక భుజాలు, తొడలు, పాదాలు కలిగిన, అనేక ఉదరాలు మరియు వికరాళ దంతాలు కలిగిన నీ మహత్తర రూపాన్ని చూచి లోకమంతా తీవ్రంగా వణికిపోతున్నది; నేనూ అలాగే వ్యథపడుతున్నాను.

Gita Press Meaning

O Mighty-armed One, seeing Your vast form with many mouths and eyes, many arms, thighs and feet—many bellies and formidable teeth—people are shaken, and so am I.

Critical Edition Meaning

Your great form—with many mouths and eyes, with many arms, thighs, and feet; with many bellies, with many fearsome teeth—having seen it, the worlds are disturbed, and so am I.

Comparative Note

The ‘teeth’ motif functions as a conventional marker of the awe-inspiring sublime; in database contexts it can be tagged as symbolic imagery rather than literal anatomy.

Word by Word

• रूपम्: form
• रूपम्: Karma
• Root: रूप

• महत्: vast, great
• Root: महत्

• ते: your
• Root: त्वद्

• बहुवक्त्रनेत्रम्: having many faces and eyes
• Root: बहुवक्त्रनेत्र

• महाबाहो: O mighty-armed one
• Root: महाबाहु

• बहुबाहु: having many arms
• Root: बहुबाहु

• ऊरुपादम्: (having many) thighs and feet
• Root: ऊरुपाद

• बहूदरम्: having many bellies
• Root: बहूदर

• बहुदंष्ट्राकरालम्: terrible with many tusks
• Root: बहुदंष्ट्राकराल

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• Root: √दृश्

• लोकाः: the worlds / the people
• लोकाः: Karta
• Root: लोक

• प्रव्यथिताः: greatly distressed, shaken
• Root: √व्यथ्

• तथा: so, likewise
• Root: तथा

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Root: अस्मद्

Speakers

• Arjuna

Primary Concepts

• Viśvarūpa symbolism
• Multiplicity-in-unity
• Affective epistemology (awe/disturbance)

Key Themes

• Cosmic embodiment
• Human vulnerability before totality
• Shared response across beings

FAQs

Psychological significance?

Arjuna explicitly includes himself among those shaken, normalizing destabilization as part of transformative insight rather than a personal failure.

Metaphysical meaning?

The many-limbed body can be read as a visualization of the One manifesting as the many—an imagistic bridge between unity and plurality.

Contextual relevance?

This verse intensifies the descriptive inventory, preparing for Arjuna’s subsequent plea for reassurance and interpretive clarity.

Modern Application?

It offers a symbolic way to think about complex systems: many ‘organs’ and ‘functions’ coordinated within one reality, prompting humility and responsibility.