BG 11.3 — Viśvarūpa-Darśana-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 11.3Chapter 11 · Viśvarūpa-Darśana-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

एवमेतद् यथात्थ त्वमात्मानं परमेश्वर ।

द्रष्टुमिच्छामि ते रूपमैश्वरं पुरुषोत्तम ॥

evam etad yathāttha tvam ātmānaṃ parameśvara

draṣṭum icchāmi te rūpam aiśvaraṃ puruṣottama

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

All you have said of yourself is true, O Supreme Lord, yet I long to see your divine form with my own eyes, O Puruṣottama.

ekras · bhāṣya

Just as You have said about Yourself, Parameshvara — I want to see Your aishvara form, Purushottama. The request is precise: not to learn more, but to see. Drashtum — to see — is the verb the chapter will fulfill. The two addresses — Parameshvara and Purushottama — name Krishna's two relevant roles for the request.

Shankara reads the request as the disciple's natural progression. Having heard the teaching, Arjuna asks for direct vision; the chapter will give exactly that. The aishvara rupa is the cosmic form that contains everything Krishna has just enumerated; the request asks Krishna to show what was described.

Madhusudana reads the verse as the bhakta's ripening movement. The teaching has prepared the inner instrument; the inner instrument now requests the direct sight. Aishvara — the form expressing sovereignty — is the appropriate name for what Arjuna is asking to see.

Ramanuja reads with characteristic warmth: the disciple's longing has crystallized into a specific request. The chapter's rupa-darshana is what fulfills it.

Madhva reads on the bheda-frame: the eternally distinct jiva, having received the verbal disclosure, asks for the visible disclosure of what cannot be exhausted in words. The aishvara rupa is Hari's manifest sovereign form; the request is appropriate to the bhakta's station.

Vallabha reads through pushti-marga: the prasada that flowed as teaching is now requested as direct vision; the request is itself part of the prasada's flow.

Shridhara reads cleanly: the disciple wants the direct sight; the chapter will deliver it.

Context

where

Chapter 11 · Viśvarūpa-Darśana-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 11.2

Arjuna says: I have heard in full, lotus-eyed one, how all beings arise and dissolve from you, and how your greatness is without end.

What's going on

All you have said of yourself is true, O Supreme Lord, yet I long to see your divine form with my own eyes, O Puruṣottama.

Sūtras through this verse (46)

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

7.1Together they cover everything to be known.───→here11.3───→11.18Sat names the union of the two powers.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

11.1Arjuna confirms the bracket from inside.───→here11.3───→18.66The teaching closes with one command.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlybetween

10.14Faith comes only from the Lord's own giving.───→here11.3───→11.55Grace-soul acts only when the Lord wills.

show all 46

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionbetween

11.1Now: experience what was taught.───→here11.3───→11.55See the world as Śiva's own body.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalC

Vision is the structural centerbetween

11.1Instruction yields, experience opens up.───→here11.3───→11.8The eye is given, never earned by work.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departurebetween

9.4He pervades, yet is not in any of it.───→here11.3───→11.46Cosmic and gracious one self-luminous.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesbetween

8.3Brahman, ātman, all facets of one Lord.───→here11.3───→11.34Consciousness itself swallows the cosmos.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalH

Bhakti as non-dual recognitionbetween

9.22Consciousness tending its own self-knowing modes.───→here11.3───→11.49Ananya bhakti is non-dual recognition.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

11.1The aiśvarya-delusion now to be removed.───→here11.3───→12.1Sa-guṇa or nir-guṇa, which path wins?

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

9.27Whatever you do, do it as offering.───→here11.3───→11.55Five clauses, one shelter: mat-karma-kṛt.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

10.10I give the buddhi-yoga to those who love.───→here11.3───→11.54Undivided love beholds it.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyabetween

9.32Even the lowest birth reaches Me through this.───→here11.3───→11.55Five clauses for the one who is Mine.

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminbetween

10.42One fragment props the world.───→here11.3───→11.13Arjuna sees all at once.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata similebetween

9.34Set toward Me, the seeker's whole posture.───→here11.3───→11.55He is the one telos.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalE

Field and field-knower as Parameśvaraapproach

───→here11.3───→13.1One knower in every field — Parameśvara.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerapproach

───→here11.3───→11.8The eye is given; seeing is grace.

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktaapproach

───→here11.3───→13.20Both natures cause the body's binding.

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

9.22Yogakshema as offering returned───→here11.3───→11.55Five offering-clauses

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

9.22The undivided ones the Lord himself sustains.───→here11.3───→11.55The whole Gītā distilled to five offering-clauses.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

9.22Constant thought of Me is self-contemplation itself.───→here11.3───→11.55The five-clause crystal is bhakti named whole.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

11.1I worship the unborn, the self-luminous teacher.───→here11.3───→11.55With awe I praise him, Kāśirāja, my teacher.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

10.8From Me everything flows; wise ones know this and worship.───→here11.3───→11.55The crystal verse names the saguṇa in absolute form.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

11.1Arjuna marks the universal moha cured.───→here11.3───→18.73Confusion gone, memory gained — the cure complete.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

7.13Why this declaration? The gloss must answer.───→here11.3───→11.16Aneka- is not just two-or-more.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

8.4Adhiyajña clause: viṣṇur eva.───→here11.3───→11.16Many-armed is Viṣṇu, not a pantheon.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitbetween

9.25Each worship reaches its own destination.───→here11.3───→11.55Five-clause sādhana names the apex.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

7.5Parā-prakṛti backed by Pañcarātra.───→here11.3───→11.16Aṣṭādhyāyī 5.4.78 settles aneka-.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

7.5Surrounding clause picks literal Śrī.───→here11.3───→11.16Aneka- means many; no upacāra needed.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

9.32The unsheltered take shelter and reach Me.───→here11.3───→11.54Undivided love — sādhana stripped, grace-clothed.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractbetween

9.32The unsheltered run to their cowherd-Lord.───→here11.3───→11.54The form revealed is Krishna in blue, not abstract.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordbetween

6.47Stilling the mind into Vāsudeva — not into nothing.───→here11.3───→11.54Vision opens only to the love-stilled mind.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

9.32Even the unsheltered reach the highest goal.───→here11.3───→11.54Bhāgavata + Brahmasūtra fuse at the vision-verse.

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

1.31The despondency catalogue goes to Viṭṭhaleśa.───→here11.3───→11.21The cosmic-form catalogue is bracketed.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

11.1By high compassion He showed the world-form.───→here11.3───→11.43Teacher, and teacher's teacher beyond compare.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

9.34Mind on Me, bowed to Me — you reach Me.───→here11.3───→11.54By undivided love alone — knowable, seen.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessbetween

9.22The undivided are my one foundation.───→here11.3───→11.54Undivided love alone unlocks the world-form.

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayexit

9.32Women, śūdras, all, also reach the goal.───→here11.3───→

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsbetween

9.34Mind on Me, devoted — you reach Me.───→here11.3───→11.54Bhakti without rival is the seeing-instrument.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

9.1Chapter 7's residue of wonder forces 9's disclosure.───→here11.3───→11.54The saguṇa-bhakta privileged ahead of 12.1.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalJ

Sañjaya's frame — evidentiary, not ornamentalbetween

1.2Dṛṣṭvā tu — Sañjaya speaks to be heard later.───→here11.3───→11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathbetween · v2

9.30Even the wrong-doer───→here11.3───→11.54Only by undivided bhakti

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

9.30Even a great wrongdoer, fixed on Me, is good.───→here11.3───→11.55Five clauses join into one shelter.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here11.3───→

Ekrasmodernforgiveness

Forgivenessapproach · other

───→here11.3───→12.13Friendly, compassionate

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

9.22Pinky finger. Shraddha, faith. Gaurav lands shraddha with the Sushma Swaraj six-───→here11.3───→11.32Wrist, kalai. Kala, time. 'Kalo'smi loka-kshaya-krit pravriddhah.' Gaurav arrive

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingbetween

10.42With one part I pervade this whole world, and stand.───→here11.3───→11.55Acting for Me, holding Me supreme — that is the road.

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 13 occurrences)

परमेश्वर parameśvara — Supreme Lord (parama + īśvara) · vocative masculine singular noun · also at 13.27
त्वम्·ते tvad ×2 — you (2nd person pronoun stem) · nominative singular noun / genitive singular noun · also at 1.1, 2.33, 3.41, 4.4, 4.35, 6.31 +10
पुरुषोत्तम puruṣottama — the Supreme Person (puruṣa + uttama 'highest') · vocative masculine singular noun · also at 3.3, 8.1, 10.15, 15.18, 15.19
द्रष्टुम् dṛś — to see (verbal root) · infinitive · also at 11.4, 11.7, 11.8, 11.46, 11.54

show all 12

एवम् evam — thus, in this way
एतत् etad — this (proximal demonstrative) · accusative neuter singular noun
यथा yathā — as, in the manner that
आत्थ √ah — to say, declare (defective verbal root) · past indicative 2nd person singular verb
आत्मानम् ātman — the Self, soul; one's own self · accusative masculine singular noun
इच्छामि iṣ — to wish, desire (verbal root) · present indicative 1st person singular verb
रूपम् rūpa — form, shape, appearance; the visible aspect · accusative neuter singular noun · also at 8.9, 11.9, 11.16, 11.20, 11.49, 15.3
ऐश्वरम् aiśvara — divine, lordly (from īśvara) · accusative neuter singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If Arjuna already believes Kṛṣṇa fully (aviśvāso nāsti), what does his request to see add — and is there a difference between trusting a claim and needing to witness it?
02Each school hears a different motive in Arjuna's longing: wonder (kautūhala), dependence, petition, desire for fulfilment. Which motive is actually present in the verse, and does the text force a choice?

show all 7

03Kṛṣṇa is addressed twice in this single verse — as Paramēśvara and as Puruṣottama. What work is each address doing, and do the schools assign them differently?
04Śaṅkara treats the desire to see as a concession to the empirical plane. Does that reading flatten Arjuna, or does it faithfully distinguish levels of knowing?
05Rāmānuja lists seven sovereign functions (ruler, sustainer, creator, destroyer, bearer, quality-treasury, supreme otherness). Does that enumeration itself constitute a theological argument, or is it devotional amplification?
06Vallabha says a devotee who stands in Kṛṣṇa's presence cannot remain with an unfulfilled longing. Is this a metaphysical claim about Kṛṣṇa's nature, a devotional confidence, or both?
07Madhusūdana explicitly holds 'with limiting adjunct' and 'without limiting adjunct' together (sopādhika / nirūpādhika). What does it mean to claim that the same form can be both — and does any other school in the panel allow that?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you receive a teacher's explanation that you intellectually accept but still feel compelled to 'experience' — notice that compulsion. The Advaita move is not to suppress it but to recognize it as the operation of the lower faculty, and to gently ask: what would it mean to rest in understanding alone rather than adding a sensory confirmation?

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Arjuna names Kṛṣṇa's seven functions before asking to see. In daily practice, before approaching a person of authority or asking for help, try naming concretely what it is you already trust about them — the specific roles they have shown up in. The specificity of gratitude is itself an act of attentiveness that opens the relationship.

show all 6

Dvaita

Dvaita's Arjuna knows that even his longing to see is not self-generated — it is possible only because Hari permits it. In any creative or intellectual work, try holding your best insights as received rather than produced. This is not self-effacement; it is a precise claim about the direction of dependence that keeps the ego from colonising what came through it.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's reading: a longing that arises inside genuine relationship is itself a gift from that relationship. The next time you feel a strong desire to know more about something you already love, treat that desire as already halfway to fulfilment rather than as lack. Ask it: 'what have you already received that makes this longing possible?'

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's kautūhala — reverent wonder — is the emotional key here. There is a quality of attention that already believes and yet can still be astonished; that is different from the sceptic's demand for proof. Cultivate it in small things: read a familiar passage, walk a familiar path, meet a known person, and allow yourself to be surprised by what you did not already possess.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's Arjuna wants to 'become fulfilled' (kṛtārthī-bubhūṣayā) even though he already knows and believes. This is the practitioner who continues the practice after understanding has arrived — not from compulsion but from love of the form. Identify one practice you continue not because it is still building something, but because it is itself the dwelling.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 11, Verse 3: Krishna to Arjuna — Viśvarūpa-Darśana-Yoga