A declaration · expansive in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“Even the brightest familiar light cannot measure the cosmic form's radiance.”
If a thousand suns rose together in the sky, their light would still barely match that great being's radiance.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyin the sky · of a thousand suns · would be · at once · risen · if · light · equal · that · would be · radiance · of that · of the great being
Arjuna says that even a thousand suns rising at once would not match the radiance of Krishna's cosmic form.
Arjuna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga" (The Universal Form).
Verse 12 sits in Chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita — Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga, "The Universal Form". The chapter has 55 verses in total.
You stand in a dark room and suddenly the screen flashes open with a truth you cannot unsee. The mind reaches for comparison, but the experience already exceeds it.
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A thousand suns rising at once would barely match the radiance of that great form.
What this verse means
Arjuna says that even a thousand suns rising at once would not match the radiance of Krishna's cosmic form.
Context & commentary
Arjuna is staring into Krishna's cosmic form after the battlefield has frozen into awe. He tries to describe the impossible: even a thousand suns would fall short of that radiance. The next verse shows him seeing the whole universe inside that body.
What it looks like today
You stand in a dark room and suddenly the screen flashes open with a truth you cannot unsee. The mind reaches for comparison, but the experience already exceeds it.
“Some encounters are so overwhelming that ordinary language and ordinary sight both fail.”
Explore related themes: vishwarupa (50 verses), cosmic form (25 verses)