I see Thee with the diadem, the club and the discus, a mass of radiance shining
everywhere, very hard to look at, blazing all round like burning fire and the sun, and immeasurable.
In simple words
Arjuna sees divine symbols: "I see You wearing a crown, holding a mace and a discus — blazing with light in every direction, so bright it hurts to look at, like staring into the sun and a raging fire at the same time. You have no measurable size."
Word-by-word meanings
किरीटिनम्one with diademगदिनम्with clubचक्रिणम्with discusचandतेजोराशिम्a mass of radianceसर्वतःeverywhereदीप्तिमन्तम्shiningपश्यामि(I) seeत्वाम्Theeदुर्निरीक्ष्यम्very hard to look atसमन्तात्all roundदीप्तानलार्कद्युतिम्blazing like burning fire and sunअप्रमेयम्immeasurable
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
Swami Sivananda
11.17 किरीटिनम् one with diadem? गदिनम् with club? चक्रिणम् with discus? च and? तेजोराशिम् a mass of radiance? सर्वतः everywhere? दीप्तिमन्तम् shining? पश्यामि (I) see? त्वाम् Thee? दुर्निरीक्ष्यम् very hard to look at? समन्तात् all round? दीप्तानलार्कद्युतिम् blazing like burning fire and sun? अप्रमेयम् immeasurable.Commentary Kiritam is a special ornament for the head? the crown.Arjuna had worshipped the Lord as having a crown? club and discus and the Lord showed him the same form now. He is in all forms and He is beyond all forms as the transcendental Reality. Who can comprehend His GloryTejorasim A mass of splendour that cannot be perceived without the inner divine eye of intuition.Aprameyam Immeasurable? whose limits cannot be fixed.I infer from this vision of Thy power of Yoga that Thu art the Imperishable? etc.
Swami Chinmayananda
This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.
# BG 11.17 — Translation of Meaning
Continuing his description of the Universal Form, Arjuna recounts what he beheld in that inconceivable, incomprehensible divine manifestation. He saw the Lord Vishnu adorned with a crown, bearing the conch, discus, mace, and lotus in His hands. According to the descriptions in the Puranas, the conch, discus, and other emblems are the insignia of Lord Vishnu.
In Hindu scriptures, the deities are described as bearing certain distinctive weapons and symbols, each carrying profound significance. These emblems represent their sovereignty and dominion over the cosmos. One who masters external circumstances and governs the natural tendencies of the mind alone is truly worthy of being called Lord or God. One enslaved by the mind's impulses and external attractions is weak; even if crowned as a king, his reign is as fleeting as that of an actor playing a king upon the stage. A ruler cannot possess true authority or effectiveness without mastery of the senses and control of the mind. None can live a happy and powerful life without conquering base desires and crowning themselves sovereign over their own kingdom of mind.
The disciplined person is Vishnu, and he alone is worthy of the royal crown. The four-armed Vishnu holds in His hands the conch, discus, mace, and lotus. This is a symbolic representation. In India, the lotus flower symbolizes peace, joy, auspiciousness, and happiness. The sound of the conch calls humanity to its duty. When a generation fails to heed this noble call from within the heart, discord, war, pestilence, famine, storms, sectarian hatred, and social disorder spread everywhere. This is the blow of the mace upon that generation, meant to discipline and order it. Should a generation fail to learn even from such punishment, then comes the wheel—the wheel of time—which destroys that generation beyond redemption.
From Arjuna's description, we understand that one supreme Truth is the substratum for all—from Brahma to the ant. That Truth is eternally and universally one; only its manifestations are diverse. The apparent gradations in its divine expression arise from the various gross and subtle conditions through which that Truth is expressed.
This Universal Form radiates brilliance from all sides—a mass of radiant light, blazing fire, and luminous as the sun, yet exceedingly difficult to behold. In this verse's description, the most expressive line reveals to us the pure consciousness-nature of the Person. This should not be understood as material light. Though the word is borrowed from common language, its use here is intentional. Consciousness itself is that light by which we clearly perceive the feelings of our mind and the thoughts of our intellect. This very consciousness illuminates form and color through the eyes, and sound through the ears. Therefore, it is natural that Arjun, in describing the Universal Form of the infinite consciousness-nature of Lord Krishna, should falter in speech, saying that the Form is a mass of radiance that blinds the senses, mind, and intellect—meaning these instruments cannot grasp it.
**Immeasurable:** Though Arjun has made every effort to describe the cosmic form and the emotions it awakened, a subtle current of despair flows through all these verses. Arjun realizes he cannot fully express the subject within the limits of language. Language can only describe what is perceived by the senses, felt by the mind, or understood by the intellect. Before Arjun lies a vision he experiences, sees, and comprehends with his own intellect, yet—what a strange paradox—when he attempts to contain it in the vessel of language, it seems to evaporate like vapor. Arjun struggles to describe in the language of sensory experience and emotion, yet remains unsatisfied with his own description.
The amazed human attempts to sing the glory of that splendor in the language of his intellect. Yet here too, he can only say in disappointment: O Lord, You are forever immeasurable, unknowable. Though the poet has depicted the cosmic form visually, he wishes to convey that the true Self, the atman, is in reality the Witness, and cannot become an object of knowledge even for the intellect. The atman is the Seer and the Knower, not the seen and the knowable.
From this vision of Your divine yoga, I infer that...