2 O beautiful lotus-eyed Lord, now I have heard Your elaborate and conclusive description of the Truth concerning the creation and dissolution of the living beings, and I have also heard of Your eternal, inexhaustible glories.
3 O Lord, the manner in which You have described to me Your absolute supremacy is certainly as it is. Yet I long to actually see, O Purusottama, that almighty form of Yours.
4 O Lord of all mystic power, I implore Thee, please exhibit Your almighty, imperishable form, if You think that I shall be able to behold it.
5 The Supreme Lord said: O Partha, you will behold My hundreds of thousands of variegated, multi-colored, and multiform divine expansions.
6 O Bharata, you will see all the forms of Aditya, Vasu, Rudra, the Asvini-kumara twins, the forty-nine forms of Vayu, and many others. You will also see all the many wondrous forms which are hitherto unseen.
7 O vigilant Arjuna, the whole universe of moving and stationary beings, your future prospect of victory or defeat, or whatever you desire to see you will behold simultaneously in this singular form of Mine.
8 You will not be able to see Me through your present eyes, and therefore I give you supernatural vision by which to behold My almighty, supreme absolute power.
9 Sanjaya said: O King Dhrtarastra, thus speaking to Arjuna, the Almighty Omnipotent Lord Sri Hari exhibited His form of supreme universal Lordship.
10, 11 The Supreme Lord exhibited His universal form of unlimited faces and eyes, and endless miraculous revelations. Many dassling ornaments adorned His body, and He was armed with many gleaming weapons. Superbly dressed in fine garments, resplendently garlanded, and anointed with celestial fragrant substances, His astounding effulgence and presence pervaded all around.
12 The radiance of a thousand rising sun might resemble something of the effulgence of that universal form of the Supreme Lord.
13 At that moment, there on the battlefield, Arjuna could see the whole universe reposed in a single place, yet divided into many facets, all within the form of Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme God of gods.
14 Seeing that amazing form, wonderstruck Arjuna, his whole body tingling in ecstasy, bowed his head in obeisance to Lord Krsna, the Supreme God of all gods. His hands folded in prayer, Arjuna began to speak.
15 Arjuna said: O Lord of magnificent form, in Your body I can see the demigods, all species of life, transcendental sages and serpents, as well as Mahadeva, and Lord Brahma who is seated on the lotus flower.
16 O Lord of the universe! O universal form! In all directions I see Your unlimited body of many arms, bellies, eyes and faces yet I cannot catch a glimpse of Your beginning, middle, or end.
17 Resplendent with crowns, wielding clubs and disc weapons everywhere! do I see Your all-illuminating, effulgent image, radiant as blazing fire and sun, therefore very difficult to behold and completely beyond imagination.
18 You are the personification of the Supreme Absolute Truth which is knowable by the Vedas, You are the exclusive reservoir of this universe, and You are the imperishable preserver of the eternal religion mentioned in the Vedas. You are certainly the eternal Supreme Personality, and this is my firm conviction.
19 Without beginning, middle, and end, unlimitedly powerful and possessing countless arms, with eyes like the sun and moon, and a countenance like blazing fire I see You searing the universe by Your intense radiance.
20 You alone pervade all directions and all space between heaven and Earth. O universal form, seeing this astonishing an ghastly form of Yours, all the residents of the three worlds are greatly fearful.
21 All these demigods are entering into You, some fearfully offering You prayers with cupped palms. The great sages and perfected beings are offering choice, worshipful prayers unto You, saying, "Let all auspiciousness be upon the universe."
22 The demigods known as Rudra, Aditya, Vasu, Sadhya, Visvadeva, the Asvini-kumara twins, deities of the air, deities of the forefathers, the Gandharva, Yaksa, Asura, and Siddha races indeed, they all behold You in amazement.
23 O Almighty One, seeing Your colossal form of many faces, eyes, arms, legs, feet, and bellies, ghastly with its many teeth all beings, including myself, are terrified.
24 O universal form! Seeing Your sky-touching, glowing form of myriad colors, of gaping mouth and gigantic glaring eyes, my heart is overwhelmed with fear and I cannot in any way remain composed or calm.
25 Just seeing Your faces resembling the fire of universal annihilation, ghastly with all their terrible teeth, I can no longer distinguish one direction from another, nor can I find peace of mind. O Supreme Lord of all the gods, O shelter of the universe, please be merciful to me.
26, 27 The sons of Dhrtarastra along with their kings, and Bhisma, Drona, that Karna together with our chief warriors all are rushing forward to enter into Your dreadful mouths which are ghastly with their teeth. And some are seen with crushed heads trapped between Your teeth.
28 As the many currents of rivers flow towards the ocean and finally enter into it, so these heroes of the world are entering the blazing cavity of Your mouths.
29 As moths irresistibly rush to their death into a blazing fire, similarly, all these persons are madly rushing to certain death, entering into Your mouths.
30 O Almighty Personality, poised to swallow all these victims, You are voraciously devouring everything with Your flaming mouths. The entire universe is being seared by Your all-pervading, personal glaring effulgence.
31 O fearsome one, pleae tell me who You are. O Lord of lords, I offer my obeisances unto You; please be merciful upon me. I wish to know more about You, the Original Person, since it is difficult for me to comprehend the underlying intention of Your actions.
32 The Supreme Lord said: I am time, the mighty force that vanquishes everyone, and My mission is to devour all who reside in this world. Of all fighters in the enemy party, even if not slain by you, not one will be spared.
33 Therefore take your stand for battle, take the glory, conquer all the enemies, and enjoy a flourishing kingdom. Actually, all these warriors have long before been killed by Me. O Savyasacin, you simply take all the credit.
34 Slay (again) Dronacarya, Bhisma, Jayadratha, Kar�a, and the many warriors, all of who have been already killed by Me. Do not hesitate fight! Without any doubt, you will be able to conquer the enemies.
35 Sanjaya said: After hearing all these things spoken by Lord Kesava, Arjuna, his body trembling, offered Him respects with folded hands. With a fearful heart, again bowing down to the Lord, he began to speak with faltering words.
36 Arjuna said: O Hrsikesa, the entire universe feels great ecstasy in singing Your glories, and all achieve love for You. Being afraid, the demons flee in all directions, but the perfected beings offer respectful obeisances unto You. Certainly this is the proper order of things.
37 O mighty personality, O limitless one, O God of gods, O abode of the universe! Why, indeed, should all not offer respects unto You, who are the worshipable father of even Lord Brahma? You are also superior to Your impersonal aspect, which is the (general) cause and effect of everything (in the mundane plane).
38 You are the eternal origin of all the demigods, and the only refuge of this universe. You alone are the knower and the knowable, and the embodiment of transcendence. O unlimited one, this whole universe is pervaded by You.
39 You are the presiding demigods of the air, death, fire, the ocean, and the moon. You are Brahma, who is the grand-father of all beings, and You are his father as well. Obeisances unto You thousands and thousands of times, again and yet again.
40 O embodiment of all, my obeisances unto You from the front, from behind, and from all sides. O endless almighty, Your are everything, because by unlimited potency You are pervading the entire universe.
41, 42 Due to delusion and affection I have rashly addressed You as 'Krsna', 'Yadava', or 'friend', not knowing Your glories and this mighty universal form of Yours. O infallible one, I have also disrespected You in jest while sporting, resting, sitting or eating and so on, either alone with You or before other companions. Therefore, I am begging You, who are inconceivable powerful, to kindly forgive me for all these offenses.
43 O almighty without a second, You are the father of the whole world of moving and stationary beings, the object of worship, the preceptor and You are superior to all these as well. Therefore within these three worlds no one can be Your equal, not to speak of Your superior.
44 O Lord, like a stick fallen on the ground I prostrate my body before You, praying for Your mercy, since You are my worshipable master. As a father, friend, or lover forgives the offenses of his son, companion, or beloved, please be merciful and similarly forgive my offenses to You.
45 O Lord, although I have become gladdened to behold this universal form of Yours which I have never seen before, my mind is distraught with fear. Therefore, O God of gods, please reveal Your previous four-armed form. O Jagannivasa! May You be gracious upon me.
46 I wish to see You as I have seen you before, with a crown on Your head, Your hands bearing a club and disc. O Lord of a thousand arms, O universal form, may You graciously appear in that four-armed form.
47 The Supreme Lord said: O Arjuna, being pleased with you, I have today revealed this effulgent, all-pervading, unlimited, and primeval form, by My divine potency. This foremost universal form has never been seen by anyone else before.
48 O Arjuna, best of the Kauravas, in this world no one but you can see this universal form of Mine, which cannot be perceived either by the performance of Vedic sacrifice, charity, study, rituals, or severe austerities.
49 Let not your fear and bewilderment remain, which has arisen from the vision of My ghastly universal form. With a peaceful, contented heart, perfectly see My four-armed form once again.
50 Sanjaya said: Having thus spoken to Arjuna, Krsna exhibited His form (of four-armed feature, in order to fulfil Arjuna's prayer). Thereafter, the Lord once again revealed His sweet personality the most merciful Lord, Sri Krsna (of charming human features, wearing yellow cloth and recognizable by His feature of divine beauty), thus reassuring the fearful Arjuna.
51 Arjuna said: O Janardana, my heart is fulfilled upon seeing Your charming form of human features. My fear is dispelled, and my inner peace has returned.
52 The Supreme Lord said: O Arjuna, the chance to see Me as you are now seeing Me before you, is very, very rarely attained. Even the gods constantly aspire for a glimpse of this humanlike form of truth, consciousness, and beauty.
53 Neither by study of the Vedas, nor by austerity, charity, or sacrifice, can anyone behold My eternal humanlike form of Supreme Absolute Truth (Para-brahman) which you are now seeing before you.
54 Arjuna, conqueror of the enemy, although in this form of Mine I am practically impossible to be seen by all other methods, the pure devotees, by their exclusive devotion unto Me, are capable of actually knowing Me, seeing Me, and entering into My divine pastimes.
55 O Arjuna, one who performs duties only for My service, accepts Me as the supreme shelter, engages in the devotional practices, remains detached from the mundane plane and free from enmity toward all beings such a person surely reaches Me.