Verse 11.5

Verse 11.5: The Exalted-one Spake: “Behold, thou Son of Pritha, my Forms by hundreds and thousands: of many varieties, radiant, and possessing manifold colours and shapes. (123)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

“Arjuna, you asked (me) to show you only (one single) Omnipresence. Where is the sense of it if only that is revealed? Now see, the all and the one as filled by my Divine forms. Some lean, some bulky; some short, some long; some broad, some straight; some unbounded: some wild and unwieldy (anāvara); some erect and upright; some on the move, some still; some unconcerned and passive, some loving; some vary harsh; some stupefied and bereft of sense; some alert, some shallow; some grave; some generous, some stingy; some wrathful, some tranquil; some impassioned, some quiet; some jolly, some noisy, some silent, and some mild and tame. Some wishful, some abstinent; some wakeful, some asleep; some contented, some distressed; some rejoicing, some unarmed, some armed; some dreadful, some friendly; some terrific, some strange; some entranced in meditation (samādhistha); some sporting with procreative work, and some in protecting offspring tenderly; some violently destructive of people and some only as unconcerned spectators.

Thus varied and countless are these forms and some are gloriously bright with divine lustre displaying variegated colours. Some are like red-hot gold, some of greatly tawny colour: some are coloured like sky painted with red lead (śendūra) as at the time of the setting of the Sun. Some have an artless beauty as if the entire canopy of heaven and earth was bedecked with rubies, (Manika gems) while some are glistening in red turmeric colour, radiant—like the morning Sun. Some are crystal-clear, some blue like sapphire, some deep dark like lampblack, while some are blood-coloured. Some yellow like brilliant gold, some dusky like clouds, some fair, pale-yellow like flowers of ‘Sonchapha’ while some are simply deep green. Some are like red-hot copper, while some are white like the Moon.

Of diverse colours are thus my forms which you do see. They are also of as varied shapes as of variegated colours. Some are of such peerless beauty that brings cupid himself on his knees. Some are very handsome by their figures and features, while others have bodies of such alluring charm and superb beauty as if here is opened a treasure-house of the Goddess of love (śṛṅgāra-śrīyecī). There are some that have plump rounded limbs, while some are gaunt and lean. Some are frightful (ākrālavikrāla [akrālavikrāla]), some long-necked, and some have (abnormally) big heads, while some are weirdly ill-shaped. There indeed is no end to these forms and shapes of innumerably diverse kinds, and in a single limb of each one of these forms you shall behold the whole universe.