Gita 11.31
Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga
आख्याहि मे को भवानुग्ररूपो नमोऽस्तु ते देववर प्रसीद । विज्ञातुमिच्छामि भवन्तमाद्यं न हि प्रजानामि तव प्रवृत्तिम् ॥
ākhyāhi me ko bhavān ugra-rūpo namo 'stu te deva-vara prasīda vijñātum icchāmi bhavantam ādyaṁ na hi prajānāmi tava pravṛttim
In essence: Arjuna's desperate question pierces the cosmic vision: 'Who are You in this terrible form? Be gracious to me! I want to understand You, the Primeval One, for I cannot comprehend Your purpose.'
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "Arjuna's question seems so basic - 'Who are You?' Hasn't Krishna already explained this throughout the Gita?"
Guru: "There's knowing about and knowing directly. Before this vision, Arjuna knew about Krishna's divine nature. Now he's experiencing it. Does information prepare you for direct experience?"
Sadhak: "No... I can read about fire, but touching it is different."
Guru: "Exactly. Arjuna's previous questions came from curiosity, strategy, philosophical interest. This question - 'Who are You?' - comes from being burned. Notice how he asks: he offers obeisance, begs for grace, admits he cannot understand. What has happened to his confident intellect?"
Sadhak: "It's been overwhelmed. He can't figure this out."
Guru: "And that overwhelm is precisely the opening. When the mind admits 'I cannot understand,' what happens to the barrier between questioner and questioned?"
Sadhak: "It dissolves? The mind stops standing in the way?"
Guru: "Yes. 'Na hi prajānāmi' - I do not understand - is not failure but breakthrough. The mind that 'understands' has contained reality in its concepts. The mind that admits not-understanding becomes available to direct revelation. Have you ever asked 'Who are You?' to existence itself, not expecting an answer your mind could grasp?"
Sadhak: "No... I always expect answers I can understand."
Guru: "Then you've never truly asked. Arjuna's question is authentic because he's not asking for information but for revelation. He's asking the Unknowable to make Itself known - not to his mind, but to his being."
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🌅 Daily Practice
The sincere question: Begin the day by genuinely asking existence 'Who are You?' Not expecting a verbal answer, not asking intellectually, but asking from the depth of your being. Let the question be felt in your body, your heart, your confusion. Don't rush to familiar answers. Stay with the question as an opening, not as a problem to solve. This establishes the authentic relationship with mystery that makes the day sacred.
Notice incomprehension: Throughout the day, when you encounter something you don't understand - a person's behavior, an unexpected event, your own reactions - practice saying internally 'Na hi prajānāmi' - I do not understand. Don't immediately try to understand. Let incomprehension be a doorway rather than a problem. What happens when you rest in not-knowing rather than rushing to know?
Obeisance to mystery: Before sleep, offer a genuine bow - physical if possible - to the Mystery that exceeds all your concepts of it. Say internally: 'I do not understand Your activity in my life today. I offer obeisance to what I cannot comprehend.' This is not defeat but wisdom - acknowledging that your life is moved by forces beyond your understanding. Sleep in that humility.