Verse 11.46

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 11.46:

किरीटिनं गदिनं चक्र-हस्तम् इच्छामि त्वां द्रष्टुम् अहं तथैव ।
तेनैव रूपेण चतुर्-भुजेन सहस्र-बाहो भव विश्व-मूर्ते ॥ ४६ ॥

kirīṭinaṃ gadinaṃ cakra-hastam icchāmi tvāṃ draṣṭum ahaṃ tathaiva |
tenaiva rūpeṇa catur-bhujena sahasra-bāho bhava viśva-mūrte || 46 ||

kirīṭinam–wearing a crown; gadinam–holding a club; cakra-hastam–disc in hand; icchāmi–wish; tvām–You; draṣṭum–to see; aham–I; tathā eva–like that; tena–in that; eva–verily; rūpeṇa–form; catur-bhujena–with four arms; sahasra-bāho–O thousand-armed One; bhava–be present; viśva-mūrte–O universal form.

I long to see You in that form, which is adorned with crown, mace and disc. O thousand-armed One, O form of the universe, kindly manifest Your four-armed form.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

“In the future, whenever You show me Your aiśvarya feature, please only show me Your human-like form as the son of Vasudeva, which I was seeing before. Please show me that supremely relishable form which gives bliss to the eyes of my mind. That human-like form is not adṛṣṭa-pūrva (previously unseen) unlike this present universal form. The opulence of the universal form, which is part of Your divine pastimes, is not very appealing to me.”

With this intention, Arjuna says, “Please give me darśana of that form I saw previously, which bears a divine, precious helmet made of jewels. In other words, I want to see that form You showed Your parents at the time of Your birth. O Viśvamūrti–one who assumes the form of the universe, O Sahasra-bāho–one who has thousands of arms, please withdraw this present universal form, and appear in Your four-armed form.”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The svarūpa of Kṛṣṇa is that of a young boy (nava-kiśora), a beautiful dancer dressed as a cowherd boy, with a flute in his hand. This is Kṛṣṇa’s eternal form. Although He is the embodiment of all sweetness (madhūrya), still majestic opulence (aiśvarya) is also fully present in Him. Aiśvarya may be manifest or not, but if the activities appropriate for human-like pastimes are not transgressed, it is certainly called mādhurya. For example, the killing of Pūtanā occurred when Kṛṣṇa was a baby, but this manifestation of aiśvarya did not even slightly overstep His baby-like behaviour. Aiśvarya is when a mood of opulence overrides the activities of a human being. For example, at the time of His birth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa appeared before Vasudeva and Devakī bedecked with attire and various ornaments, thus exceeding the activities of a human child. This is called aiśvarya-mayī-līlā.

Here, Arjuna’s seeing the universal form is aiśvarya-mayī-līlā. Afterwards he prayed to see Kṛṣṇa’s four-armed form, which was familiar to him, as this was appropriate for Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s human-like activities. While performing His pastimes with the Yādavas and Pāṇḍavas in His two-armed form, Śrī Kṛṣṇa would sometimes manifest His four-armed form. The pastimes in Dvārakā contain some display of opulence (aiśvarya-mayī) but all pastimes in Vraja are full of sweetness (mādhurya-mayī); they are human-like (naravat).

When Arjuna tied Aśvatthāmā, the killer of Draupadī’s five sons, with ropes and brought him to her feet, Draupadī forgave Aśvatthāmā. Bhīma, however, could not forgive him and wanted to kill him. At that time, to protect the vows of both of them and also to test the sharpness of Arjuna’s intelligence, Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifested His four-armed form.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.7.52) states:

niśamya bhīma-gaditaṃ draupadyāś ca catur-bhujaḥ
ālokya vadanaṃ sakhyur idam āha hasann iva

Four-armed Śrī Kṛṣṇa, after hearing the arguments of Bhīma, Draupadī and others, turned towards His dear friend Arjuna and smiled.

Once, while Kṛṣṇa was joking with Rukmiṇī, she could not understand the meaning of His words and fell to the ground unconscious. At that time, Kṛṣṇa manifested His four-armed form and lifted her up with two of His arms. With His other two arms, He fixed her dishevelled hair and cleaned her face.

As it is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.60.26):

paryaṅkād avaruhyāśu tām utthāpya catur-bhujaḥ
keśān samuhya tad-vaktraṃ prāmṛjat padma-pāṇinā

Arising swiftly from the couch, the Lord manifested a four-armed form, smoothed the hair of Rukmiṇī, and gently touched her face with His lotus hand.

Once, during His Vraja pastimes, Kṛṣṇa suddenly disappeared from the rāsa-līlā. Manifesting His four-armed form, He stood on the path of the gopīs, who were searching for Him. When they saw Him, they paid their obeisances and moved on in search of two-armed Śyāmasundara. In the meantime, Śrīmatī Rādhikā, the embodiment of mahābhāva, arrived there. Upon seeing Her, Kṛṣṇa became overwhelmed and despite great endeavour, He was unable to maintain His four-armed form, which disappeared into His two-armed form.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Arjuna as saying, “Now I want to see Your four-armed form in which You wear a crown on Your head and carry a club, disc and other weapons in Your hands. You manifested this present universal form, possessed of thousands of arms, from Your four-armed form. O Kṛṣṇa, I have understood without a doubt that this two-armed Śyāmasundara form is completely transcendental and the highest Truth. It is eternal and it is this form that attracts all jīvas. The four-armed form of Lord Nārāyaṇa eternally exists as the opulent pastime manifestation (aiśvarya-vilāsa) of Your two-armed Śyāmasundara form. At the time of creation, this gigantic universal form manifests from that four-armed Nārāyaṇa form. By this supreme knowledge, my curiosity has been satisfied.”