Verse 11.23

रूपं महत्ते बहुवक्त्रनेत्रं

महाबाहो बहुबाहूरुपादम् ।

बहूदरं बहुदंष्ट्राकरालं

दृष्ट्वा लोकाः प्रव्यथितास्तथाहम् ॥

11.23

Transliteration

rūpaṃ mahatte bahuvaktranetraṃ

mahābāho bahubāhūrupādam |

bahūdaraṃ bahudaṃṣṭrākarālaṃ

dṛṣṭvā lokāḥ pravyathitāstathāham ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

Having seen Thy immeasurable form with many mouths and eyes, O mighty-armed, with many arms, thighs and feet, with many stomachs and fearful with many teeth the worlds are terrified and so am I.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

form
mighty
your
with many mouths and eyes

O mighty armed one
with many arms thighs and feet

with many bellies
fearsome with many tusks

seeing
the worlds
are terrified
and so
am I

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

The terror becomes personal. Arjuna again lists the countless mouths, eyes, arms, thighs, feet and bellies, but now he adds many tusks, fearsome and jagged. The worlds are shaken, he says, and so am I. This is the first time in the hymn that he names his own fear directly. The tusks introduce the devouring imagery that will dominate the next verses. The mighty-armed one, an address often used for Arjuna, is here turned toward Krishna, whose arms are now beyond counting. The warrior who was proud of his own strength faces a strength immeasurably greater.