Bg. 11.17

BG 11.17

Devanagari

किरीटिनं गदिनं चक्रिणं च तेजोराशिं सर्वतो दीप्‍तिमन्तम् । पश्यामि त्वां दुर्निरीक्ष्यं समन्ता- द्दीप्‍तानलार्कद्युतिमप्रमेयम् ॥ १७ ॥

Verse text

kirīṭinaṁ gadinaṁ cakriṇaṁ ca tejo-rāśiṁ sarvato dīptimantam paśyāmi tvāṁ durnirīkṣyaṁ samantād dīptānalārka-dyutim aprameyam

Synonyms

kirīṭinam with helmets ; gadinam with maces ; cakriṇam with discs ; ca and ; tejaḥ-rāśim effulgence ; sarvataḥ on all sides ; dīpti-mantam glowing ; paśyāmi I see ; tvām You ; durnirīkṣyam difficult to see ; samantāt everywhere ; dīpta-anala blazing fire ; arka of the sun ; dyutim the sunshine ; aprameyam immeasurable.

Translation

Your form is difficult to see because of its glaring effulgence, spreading on all sides, like blazing fire or the immeasurable radiance of the sun. Yet I see this glowing form everywhere, adorned with various crowns, clubs and discs.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

17. I see You with crown, club, cakra, a mass of light shining everywhere, difficult to behold, with immeasurable radiance on all sides like the blazing of fire and sun.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

17. I see You with crown, club, cakra, a mass of light shining everywhere, difficult to behold, with immeasurable radiance on all sides like the blazing of fire and sun.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

Now he describes that form in another way. Thought difficult to behold, I can see You, because by Your mercy I have attained celestial eyes. The form is difficult to behold because on all sides it is as brilliant as blazing fire. Thus it is impossible to measure it (aprameyam).

Surrender Unto Me

It is immeasurable, but it has some specific elements that we should note what this universal form is: (1) it is immeasurable, (2) it has a great, great radiance, (3) everything is situated in one place (all the universes, the demigods, etc..., everything in one place). These are, at this point, the main qualities of the universal form. Now in next verse Arjuna is going to try to describe the immeasurable.