Verse 11.48

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 11.48:

न वेद-यज्ञाध्ययनैर् न दानैर् न च क्रियाभिर् न तपोभिर् उग्रैः ।
एवं-रूपः शक्य अहं नृ-लोके द्रष्टुं त्वद् अन्येन कुरु-प्रवीर ॥ ४८ ॥

na veda-yajñādhyayanair na dānair na ca kriyābhir na tapobhir ugraiḥ |
evaṃ-rūpaḥ śakya ahaṃ nṛ-loke draṣṭuṃ tvad anyena kuru-pravīra || 48 ||

na–not; veda–the Vedas; yajña–through sacrificial performances; adhyayanaiḥ–through the study of; na–not; dānaiḥ–by acts of charity; na–not; ca–and; kriyābhiḥ–by ritualistic activities; na–not; tapobhiḥ–austerities; ugraiḥ–by severe; evaṃ-rūpaḥ–in this way; śakyaḥ–possible; aham–I; nṛ-loke–in this world of men; draṣṭum–to be seen; tvat anyena–other than by you; kuru-pravīra–O supreme hero among the Kurus.

O great hero among the Kurus, but for you, no one in this world has beheld this universal form of Mine. This form cannot be seen by study of the Vedas nor through sacrifices, charity, rituals or severe penances.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

Śrī Bhagavān says, “The ability to see the form I have shown you cannot even be achieved by processes such as study of the Vedas. I am unable to show this form to anyone other than you. Fix your determination on that most rare of forms only, thinking in your mind that you have achieved the most unattainable object. Why do you again wish to see My human form after seeing this most rare form?”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

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

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “O best of the Kuru warriors, nobody in this world has ever seen this universal form, manifested by My yogamāyā-śakti, even by their study of the Vedas or their performance of sacrifices, charity, religious activities or severe austerities. You are the only one to have seen it. All those jīvas who have attained the position of demigods see and remember My universal form within their divine eyes and minds. In this mundane world, those who are bound by delusion and covered by ignorance cannot see this divine form, but My devotees, who are in yoga (union) with Me and always fixed in the eternal conscious Reality, transcend delusion as well as divinity. They, like you, do not feel comfortable with this form but hanker to see My eternal and transcendentally beautiful human-like form.”