Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 11, Verse 4: Krishna to Arjuna — Viśvarūpa-Darśana-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Arjuna addresses Krsna as Prabhu (Lord, master) and Yogesvara (lord of the yogas), then frames his request conditionally: if You consider it possible for me to behold that form, then show me Your imperishable (avyaya) self. Sankara reads the request as structurally subordinate: Arjuna acknowledges that the vision is entirely at the Lord's discretion, not the seeker's choosing. The qualifier avyaya points not to a spectacular display but to the unchanging, undivided svarupa — what remains when all transformation falls away.

  divergence: Shankara: 'yah aham ativa arthi drastum, tatah tasmat me madaratham darsaya tvam atmanam avyayam' — the seeker's extreme desire itself is the reason adduced, but the showing is unconditionally the Lord's prerogative.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  Arjuna petitions the Lord who is the creator, ruler and sustainer (srasta, prasasita, adhara) of all things, addressing Him as Yogesvara — the one whose yoga is the entire assembly of auspicious qualities (jnana, bala, aisvarya, virya, sakti, tejas). The request is to behold that self which is avyaya, meaning complete and inexhaustible, not diminished by the act of showing. Ramanuja's Arjuna is trembling with joyful wonder (kautuhala, harsa-gadgada-kantha), asking not out of intellectual curiosity but out of devotional longing for direct perception of the vigraha that contains and exceeds all six divine excellences.

  divergence: Ramanuja: 'tvad-vyatiriktasya kasya api asambhavitanam jnana-bala-aisvarya-virya-sakti-tejasam nidhe' — Krsna is the sole treasury of attributes impossible for any other being; showing the avyaya self means showing the full inexhaustible whole.

• Madhvadvaita

  Madhva fastens on a single pivot: Prabhu means samartha, capable or competent in the absolute sense. The citation from Moksadharma — 'there is no being higher than this eternal Purusa' — establishes that Krsna's capacity to show is grounded in His being the unsurpassable, self-complete Hari. Arjuna's request is not a negotiation; it is a recognition of the Lord's supreme competence (samarthya), which no jiva possesses independently. The avyaya form is the form of the one who cannot be depleted because no other reality stands outside Him.

  divergence: Madhva: 'prabhuh samarthah — nasti tasmat param bhutam purusad vai sanatant' (Moksadharma citation) — prabhu glossed strictly as samarthya, not merely lordship.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  Vallabha's Arjuna confesses that the vision cannot be obtained by any effort of his own — 'not by my doing, but by Your will alone.' The address Yogesvara is unpacked in two directions: even an ordinary yogi shows his own greatness, so You who are Yogesvara and sarva-samartha can surely show Yours effortlessly. Vallabha also entertains a playful second reading: Arjuna knows perfectly well Who is seated as charioteer; the address to Purusa-uttama is entirely sincere, not confusion. The showing requires no exertion on the Lord's part (na ca tava aisvarya-darsane kascit prayasah) because Yogesvara-tva itself entails effortless manifestation.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'na mat-krtya labhyam idam kintu tvad-icchaya eva' and 'na ca tava aisvarya-darsane kascit prayasah yogesvaratvad iti bhavah' — grace and effortlessness are the twin themes.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Sridhara Svami draws a careful distinction: Arjuna is not asking to see merely because he desires it — the Lord is not obliged to show simply on the strength of desire alone. Rather, the condition is the Lord's own assessment of feasibility: 'if You consider it possible for me to behold.' The address Yogesvara (lord of the yogis who are themselves yoga) frames Krsna as the one who controls all meditative access to reality. The qualifier avyaya (nitya, eternal) ensures the request is not for a temporary spectacular apparition but for the unchanging divine form that persists through all display.

  divergence: Sridhara: 'na caham drastum icchami ity etavata eva tvaya tad-rupam darsayitavyam — kim tarhi — manyase iti' — desire alone is insufficient; the showing is conditional on the Lord's judgment of the seeker's fitness.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusudana Sarasvati opens by anticipating an objection: why does Arjuna presume to request a vision he may be unfit for? The verse itself answers — it is structured as a conditional, leaving the determination of fitness entirely to the Lord. Prabhu is unpacked as the one who presides over creation, maintenance, dissolution, indwelling, and governance (srsti-sthiti-samhara-pravesa-prasasana). Yogesvara is the lord of all yogis possessing the eight siddhis (anima etc.). The word avyaya (aksaya, inexhaustible) is the key: Arjuna asks not for a momentary theophany but for the form that cannot be used up by being seen — a distinctly Bhakti-Advaita concern, where the ananda of devotional vision leaves the object undiminished.

  divergence: Madhusudana: 'prabhavati srsti-sthiti-samhara-pravesa-prasasanesv iti prabhuh' and 'sarvesamanimadi-siddhi-salinah yoginam isvarah' — the two epithets carry the full metaphysical weight before the petition is voiced.