Chapter 11Verse 7 of 55

Bhagavad Gita 11.7

इहैकस्थं जगत्कृत्स्नं पश्याद्य सचराचरम् | मम देहे गुडाकेश यच्चान्यद्द्रष्टुमिच्छसि ||

ihaika-sthaṁ jagat kṛtsnaṁ paśyādya sa-carācaram | mama dehe guḍākeśa yac cānyad draṣṭum icchasi ||

Translation

Behold today, in this body of mine, the whole world, moving and unmoving, gathered in one place, O thick-haired one, and whatever else you wish to see.

The instruction tightens. Behold today, here, in my body, the entire world, moving and unmoving, in one place. Iha eka-stham. Whatever else you wish to see, see it here. The verse does two things. It locates the vision spatially, inside Krishna's body, and it offers Arjuna the freedom to look for whatever he wants. The promise is not a fixed image. It is access. Whatever Arjuna's eye reaches for inside that body, he will find. Sa-caracaram, with moving and unmoving, sweeps in everything. The verse names what is about to be shown without yet showing it. The waiting is itself a teaching. The student is being told the door is wide enough before being asked to step through.

Reflection

What in your life are you afraid to bring inside the same gaze as everything else?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Eleven

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