Bg. 11.25

BG 11.25

Devanagari

दंष्ट्राकरालानि च ते मुखानि दृष्ट्वैव कालानलसन्निभानि । दिशो न जाने न लभे च शर्म प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास ॥ २५ ॥

Verse text

daṁṣṭrā-karālāni ca te mukhāni dṛṣṭvaiva kālānala-sannibhāni diśo na jāne na labhe ca śarma prasīda deveśa jagan-nivāsa

Synonyms

daṁṣṭrā teeth ; karālāni terrible ; ca also ; te Your ; mukhāni faces ; dṛṣṭvā seeing ; eva thus ; kāla-anala the fire of death ; sannibhāni as if ; diśaḥ the directions ; na not ; jāne I know ; na not ; labhe I obtain ; ca and ; śarma grace ; prasīda be pleased ; deva-īśa O Lord of all lords ; jagat-nivāsa O refuge of the worlds.

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.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

25. Seeing Your mouth with sharp teeth, like the fire of cosmic destruction, I cannot recognize the directions and I feel no comfort. O master of the devas, abode of the universe, be merciful to me. 26-27. All the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra along with the host of rulers of the earth, Bhīṣma, Droṇa and Karṇa, together with our prominent warriors, enter swiftly into Your fearful mouth with sharp teeth. Some, with their heads ground up, are sticking between Your teeth.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

25. Seeing Your mouths with sharp teeth, like the fire of cosmic destruction, I cannot recognize the directions and I feel no comfort. O master of the devas, abode of the universe, be merciful to me. 26-27. All the sons of Dhṛtarāsṭṛa along with the host of rulers of the earth, Bhiṣma, Droṇa and Karṇa, together with our prominent warriors, enter swiftly into Your fearful mouth with sharp teeth. Some, with their heads ground up, are sticking between Your teeth.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

Seeing Your ferocious teeth and mouths, which are similar (saṁnibhāni) to the fire of destruction at the end of the universe (kalānala), [Note: This was described as one of Kṛṣṇa’s vibhūtis in the last chapter, verse 33.] (I do not recognize the directions), and I find no comfort (śarma). Bg 11.26, Bg 11.27, Bg 11.26-27 AMaq c Tva& Da*Taraí\SYa Pau}aa" SaveR SahEvaviNaPaal/SaºE" ) >aqZMaae d]ae<a" SaUTaPau}aSTaQaaSaaE SahaSMadqYaEriPa YaaeDaMau:YaE" )) 26 )) v£-ai<a Tae TvrMaa<aa ivXaiNTa d&í\ak-ral/aiNa >aYaaNak-aiNa ) ke-iciŪl/Gana dXaNaaNTarezu SaNd*XYaNTae cUi<aRTaEṛtaMaa(r)E" )) 27 )) amī ca tvāṁ dhṛtarāṣṭrasya putrāḥ sarve sahaivāvani-pāla-saṅghaiḥ bhīṣmo droṇaḥ sūta-putras tathāsau sahāsmadīyair api yodha-mukhyaiḥ vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā viśanti daṁṣṭrā-karālāni bhayānakāni kecid vilagnā daśanāntareṣu sandṛśyante cūrṇitair uttamāṅgaiḥ amī—these; ca—also; tvām—You; dhṛtarāṣṭrasya—of Dhṛtarāṣṭra; putrāḥ—the sons; sarve—all; saha—with; eva—indeed; avani-pāla—of warrior kings; saṅghaiḥ—the groups; bhīṣmaḥ—Bhīṣmadeva; droṇaḥ—Droṇācārya; sūta-putraḥ—Karṇa; tathā—also; asau—that; saha—with; asmadīyaiḥ—our; api—also; yodha-mukhyaiḥ—chiefs among the warriors; vaktrāṇi—mouths; te—Your; tvaramāṇāḥ—rushing; viśanti—are entering; daṁṣṭrā—teeth; karālāni—terrible; bhayānakāni—very fearful; kecit—some of them; vilagnāḥ—becoming attached; daśana-antareṣu—between the teeth; sandṛśyante—are seen; cūrṇitaiḥ—with smashed; uttama-aṅgaiḥ—heads. The Lord previously said “See whatever else you desire to see.” The Lord meant, “See in My body the future victory and defeat in this war.” Now he shows this in five verses. All these sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Duryodhana and others, along with the gathering of kings (avani pāla) such as Śalya and Jayadratha, and that son of a charioteer, Karṇa (asau sūta putraḥ) are swiftly entering Your mouths. And even those who are famous as undefeatable, like Bhīṣma, are entering Your mouths. Asau used with sūta putraḥ indicates “Karṇa has held continuous hatred of me (Arjuna).” Not only those, but they enter Your mouths even with our chief warriors such as Dhṛṣṭadhyumna. The ornament sahokti is used. [Note: In the case of being sahokti, the sentence would suggest that the chief warriors are causing the enemy to enter the mouths.] Among them, some are seen to be stuck between the teeth of that universal form, with their heads (uttamaḥ aṅgaiḥ) crushed. This is what I see.

Surrender Unto Me

Arjuna's rasa is turning to bewiderement. Earlier in this chapter Krsna said: "See all this in just one part of My body." But as soon as Arjuna was actually seeing the universal form, he forgot he couldn't see Krsna's body anymore, he could only see the universal form.