Devanagari
न तु मां शक्यसे द्रष्टुमनेनैव स्वचक्षुषा ।
दिव्यं ददामि ते चक्षु: पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् ॥ ८ ॥
Verse text
na tu māṁ śakyase draṣṭum
anenaiva sva-cakṣuṣā
divyaṁ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ
paśya me yogam aiśvaram
Synonyms
na
—
never
;
tu
—
but
;
mām
—
Me
;
śakyase
—
are able
;
draṣṭum
—
to see
;
anena
—
with these
;
eva
—
certainly
;
sva-cakṣuṣā
—
your own eyes
;
divyam
—
divine
;
dadāmi
—
I give
;
te
—
to you
;
cakṣuḥ
—
eyes
;
paśya
—
see
;
me
—
My
;
yogam aiśvaram
—
inconceivable mystic power.
Translation
But you cannot see Me with your present eyes. Therefore I give you divine eyes. Behold My mystic opulence!
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
8. But you will not be able to see with your material eye alone. I give you the eye of the devas. Behold My majestic power.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
8. But you will not be able to see with your material eye alone. I give you the eye of the devas. Behold My majestic form.
Purport
A pure devotee does not like to see Kṛṣṇa in any form except His form with two hands; a devotee must see His universal form by His grace, not with the mind but with spiritual eyes. To see the universal form of Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna is told not to change his mind but his vision. The universal form of Kṛṣṇa is not very important; that will be clear in subsequent verses. Yet because Arjuna wanted to see it, the Lord gives him the particular vision required to see that universal form.
Devotees who are correctly situated in a transcendental relationship with Kṛṣṇa are attracted by loving features, not by a godless display of opulences. The playmates of Kṛṣṇa, the friends of Kṛṣṇa and the parents of Kṛṣṇa never want Kṛṣṇa to show His opulences. They are so immersed in pure love that they do not even know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In their loving exchange they forget that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that the boys who play with Kṛṣṇa are all highly pious souls, and after many, many births they are able to play with Kṛṣṇa. Such boys do not know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They take Him as a personal friend. Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī recites this verse:
itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puṣjāḥ
“Here is the Supreme Person, who is considered the impersonal Brahman by great sages, the Supreme Personality of Godhead by devotees, and a product of material nature by ordinary men. Now these boys, who have performed many, many pious activities in their past lives, are playing with that Supreme Personality of Godhead.” ( Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.12.11)
The fact is that the devotee is not concerned with seeing the viśva-rūpa, the universal form, but Arjuna wanted to see it to substantiate Kṛṣṇa’s statements so that in the future people could understand that Kṛṣṇa not only theoretically or philosophically presented Himself as the Supreme but actually presented Himself as such to Arjuna. Arjuna must confirm this because Arjuna is the beginning of the paramparā system. Those who are actually interested in understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and who follow in the footsteps of Arjuna should understand that Kṛṣṇa not only theoretically presented Himself as the Supreme, but actually revealed Himself as the Supreme.
The Lord gave Arjuna the necessary power to see His universal form because He knew that Arjuna did not particularly want to see it, as we have already explained.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Arjuna should not think that this is some form caused by magical trick or material illusion. For the purpose of giving him faith that the form which contains this whole universe is sat-cid-ānanda, He speaks this verse.
By your material eyes (anena) you cannot see Me. You cannot see My purely spiritual form. Śaknose stands for śaknosi. Therefore, I give you divine (divyam) eyes. See with those divine eyes. By letting him see with those eyes, the Lord’s intention was to give a little astonishment to Arjuna, who was thinking himself to be a material person.
Actually, because he is a principal associate of the Lord, and therefore previously had appeared as Nara along with the Nārāyaṇa avatāra, Arjuna does not have material eyes like ordinary material persons. What is the logic in giving spiritual eyes to Arjuna in order to see a mere expansion of the Lord, when that same Arjuna with his very eyes directly realizes the sweetness of his Lord?
But, on the other hand, it can be said that the superior eye which sees only the great sweetness of Kṛṣṇa’s human pastimes, as in the case of the ananya-bhakta, does not at all accept the glories of the Lord’s pastimes performed with the devatās (deva līlā). One who has tasted the juice of the white lotus cannot relish sugar candy with his tongue. Thus the Lord, wanting to show the majestic nature of His pastimes with the devatās (deva-līlā), in order to cause astonishment in Arjuna who had requested just that, gave to Arjuna non-human eyes suitable for seeing deva-līlā (divyam), majestic in quality. The intention of giving such eyes will be explained at the end of the chapter.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Intent on fulfilling what Arjuna prayed for, qualification to see that form, in the words manyase yadi tac chakyam, the Lord gave Arjuna celestial eyes to see the heavenly form composed of all the devatās, in order to astonish him.
You cannot see Me with a thousand heads, a form shining like a thousand suns at once, by your eyes which are accustomed only to My sweetness. Therefore, I give you celestial, heavenly eyes. As I would put oil on My body in entering a swiftly moving stream, so I anoint your eyes suitably. See My majestic form (yogam) with those eyes. Yoga means that which makes the mind concentrate (yujyate). In the next verse the phrase paramaṁ rūpam aiśvaram occurs. Thus rūpa is the meaning of yoga. [Note: Another meaning of yoga is “magic.” Here by context, yoga means a real form, not something illusory.] It should be understood however, that though Kṛṣṇa gave celestial eyes to Arjuna, He did not give him a celestial mind. If He gave that type of mind to Arjuna, Arjuna would take pleasure in that celestial form. Some say that the universal form with a thousand heads is superior to the form of Kṛṣṇa as the chariot driver of Arjuna, and thus Kṛṣṇa had to give Arjuna different eyes to see that universal form. This idea is refuted later.
Surrender Unto Me
'Divyam caksuh', divine eyes.
The acaryas make so very interesting point about this. Arjuna was seeing Krsna in His two‑armed form and understanding Krsna's position as the most all‑attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead. So he needed spiritual vision to see Krsna's position. Krsna is going to show Arjuna His universal form. Which is higher: the universal form or Krsna's two‑armed most beautiful form? Since Krsna's two‑armed form is higher, so why Krsna had to give Arjuna divine eyes to see something that is lower? Arjuna already had, in fact, divine eyes.
The explanation the acaryas give is that this 'divyam caksuh' also means 'heavenly vision'. Heavenly means 'higher' materially, but away lower then spiritual. Because Arjuna had spiritual vision as Krsna's eternal associate, Krsna gave him 'heavenly' vision, material vision, so Arjuna could see the universal form. Krsna gave him the vision of a demigod, otherwise Arjuna wouldn't show any interest. Like mother Yasoda, she had 'prema' eyes. When Krsna showed her His universal form, she didn't show any interest. Similarly, Arjuna wouldn't been interested.
Srila Prabhupada explains in his Purport: "A pure devotee does not like to see Krsna in any form except His form with two hands; a devotee must see His universal form by His grace, not with the mind but with spiritual eyes. To see the universal form of Krsna, Arjuna is told not to change his mind but his vision. The universal form of Krsna is not very important; that will be clear in subsequent verses. Yet because Arjuna wanted to see it, the Lord gives him the particular vision required to see that universal form." And then: " The fact is that the devotee is not concerned with seeing the visva‑rupa, the universal form, but Arjuna wanted to see it to substantiate Krsna's statements so that in the future people could understand that Krsna not only theoretically or philosophically presented Himself as the Supreme but actually presented Himself as such to Arjuna. Arjuna must confirm this because Arjuna is the beginning of the parampara system. Those who are actually interested in understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and who follow in the footsteps of Arjuna should understand that Krsna not only theoretically presented Himself as the Supreme actually revealed Himself as the Supreme.
The Lord gave Arjuna the necessary power to see His universal form because He knew that Arjuna did not particularly want to see it, as we have already explained."
[B. SANJAYA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIVERSAL FORM (11. 9‑31)
1. Sanjaya describes how Krsna bestows upon Arjuna the necessary vision upon Arjuna. Arjuna then beholds Krsna's Universal Form with its expansions divided into many thousands although situated in one place. He sees its unlimited mouths with eyes decorated with dazzling ornaments, garlands, scents and garments all magnificently effulgent like 1000 suns. (9‑13) ]
Up to this point Arjuna has been receiving only Krsna's words but now with the 'divyam caksuh' he will start to see that universal form.