Bg. 11.1 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

अर्जुन उवाच मदनुग्रहाय परमं गुह्यमध्यात्मसंज्ञितम् । यत्त्वयोक्तं वचस्तेन मोहोऽयं विगतो मम ॥ १ ॥

Verse text

arjuna uvāca mad-anugrahāya paramaṁ guhyam adhyātma-saṁjṣitam yat tvayoktaṁ vacas tena moho ’yaṁ vigato mama

Synonyms

arjunaḥ uvāca — Arjuna said ; mat-anugrahāya — just to show me favor ; paramam — supreme ; guhyam — confidential subject ; adhyātma — spiritual ; saṁjṣitam — in the matter of ; yat — what ; tvayā — by You ; uktam — said ; vacaḥ — words ; tena — by that ; mohaḥ — illusion ; ayam — this ; vigataḥ — is removed ; mama — my.

Translation

Arjuna said: By my hearing the instructions You have kindly given me about these most confidential spiritual subjects, my illusion has now been dispelled.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

1. Arjuna said: By Your mercy, my illusion concerning Your powers is gone, through hearing the words you spoke concerning the highest secret of your vibhūtis along with knowledge of the soul.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

1. Arjuna said: My illusion concerning Your powers is gone, by hearing the words You spoke out of mercy concerning the highest secret of Your vibhūtis residing in paramātmā.

Purport

This chapter reveals Kṛṣṇa as the cause of all causes. He is even the cause of the Mahā-viṣṇu, from whom the material universes emanate. Kṛṣṇa is not an incarnation; He is the source of all incarnations. That has been completely explained in the last chapter. Now, as far as Arjuna is concerned, he says that his illusion is over. This means that Arjuna no longer thinks of Kṛṣṇa as a mere human being, as a friend of his, but as the source of everything. Arjuna is very enlightened and is glad that he has such a great friend as Kṛṣṇa, but now he is thinking that although he may accept Kṛṣṇa as the source of everything, others may not. So in order to establish Kṛṣṇa’s divinity for all, he is requesting Kṛṣṇa in this chapter to show His universal form. Actually when one sees the universal form of Kṛṣṇa one becomes frightened, like Arjuna, but Kṛṣṇa is so kind that after showing it He converts Himself again into His original form. Arjuna agrees to what Kṛṣṇa has several times said: Kṛṣṇa is speaking to him just for his benefit. So Arjuna acknowledges that all this is happening to him by Kṛṣṇa’s grace. He is now convinced that Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes and is present in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

In the eleventh chapter, Arjuna, seeing the universal form, praises it in reverence. When Kṛṣṇa shows Himself again, Arjuna becomes pleased. At the end of the last chapter, hearing about one aṁśa of his dear friend, the adipuruṣa who is the shelter of all the vibhūtis, with the words viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam ekāṁśena sthito jagat, Arjuna became submerged in the highest bliss and desired to see that form. He praises what the Lord has just spoken in three verses. “The words spoken by You revealing vibhūtis present in Yourself (adhyātma) have removed my ignorance concerning Your powers (mohaḥ).” The word adhyātma is here taken as an avyayībhāva compound of adhi (in) and ātmā (self), meaning “in the self.”

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

In the eleventh chapter, on seeing the universal form, Arjuna, frightened, begins to praise that form. By showing His original form, the Lord then gives bliss to Arjuna. From the description of the Lord’s vibhūtis beginning with aham ātmā guḍākeśa sarva-bhūtāśaya-sthitaḥ and concluding with viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam (BG 20-42), understanding that the shelter of all the vibhūtis (mahā viṣṇu), the puruṣa who creates the mahattattva, was an avatāra of Kṛṣṇa, and seeing that the source of all the avatāras including Maha Viṣṇu was standing in front of him, Arjuna, submerged in an ocean of friendly bliss, and desiring to see that puruṣa about whom Kṛṣṇa had just spoken, then began to speak. My bewilderment was expressed in the words “O master of yoga māyā, by what method of thinking can I know you at all times? How should I think of you with devotion in various objects, O Lord?” (BG 10.17) That bewilderment is now gone by the words You spoke to show mercy to me—words which manifested (saṁjṣitam) the description of the vibhūtis in You, paramātmā (adhyātma). These vibhūtis are very secret, not understood by anyone except Yourself. Adhyātma functions as an inclinable compound meaning “in the paramātmā.”