← Chapter 11 · The Universal Form

Bhagavad Gita 11.16 · Arjuna

No beginning, no middle, no end

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अनेकबाहूदरवक्त्रनेत्रं

पश्यामि त्वां सर्वतोऽनन्तरूपम्।

नान्तं न मध्यं न पुनस्तवादिं

पश्यामि विश्वेश्वर विश्वरूप॥

anekabāhūdaravaktranetraṃ paśyāmi tvāṃ sarvato’anantarūpamnāntaṃ na madhyaṃ na punastavādiṃ paśyāmi viśveśvara viśvarūpa

I see You everywhere, countless arms, faces and eyes, endless in form. Lord of all, I see no end, middle or beginning.

What it means

Arjuna sees arms, bodies, faces and eyes beyond counting, stretching in every direction. And he searches for edges. Where does this begin? Where does it end? Even the middle can't be found. Vishvarupa, the cosmic form, has no boundaries. It simply goes on.

The story

Arjuna is used to measuring armies, counting soldiers, finding the enemy's edge. Here, nothing can be measured. Every way of knowing he has simply runs out.

In your life

Stand somewhere with an open horizon, a beach, a field, a rooftop, and try to find the edge of the sky. You can't. Let that boundlessness rest your mind for a few minutes.

The infinite has no edges.