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Majority of the people misunderstood the Vishwarupa Darshanam, as narrated in Srimad Bhagavad Gita.

When Arjuna asked Sri Krishna to show his Divine form (द्रष्टुमिच्छामि ते रूपमैश्वरं पुरुषोत्तम), Sri Krishna says as follows:

पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः।

नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च।।11.5।।

O Arjuna, forms of Mine, by the hundreds and thousands, of different sorts, divine, and of various colours and shapes.

इहैकस्थं जगत्कृत्स्नं पश्याद्य सचराचरम्।

मम देहे गुडाकेश यच्चान्यद्द्रष्टुमिच्छसि।।11.7।।

Now behold, O Arjuna, in this, My body, the whole universe centred in one including the moving and the unmoving and whatever else thou desirest to see.

The secret of the Vishwarupa lies in the above Sloka, wherein Sri Krishna said:

द्रष्टुमिच्छसि - whatever thou desirest to see.

Sri Krishna never said that I am showing the Vishwarupa to you and that these all comprise my Vishwarupa.

He simply said that "See whatever you want to see - द्रष्टुमिच्छसि".

So whatever Arjuna saw during Viswarupa Sandarsana, it was his own mind's projections and imaginations.

Sri Krishna did not show anything to Arjuna.

Coming to Sanjaya, he was just narrating the dialogues that took place between Sri Krishna and Arjuna. So Sanjaya just heard what Arjuna said but not what he saw.

The vision of GOD, is like projections on a WHITE screen. It will show whatever is projected on it.

GOD will show to the seekers of GOD, according to their maturity of mind and hence their own mind's projections.

To the Gnani, who lost all desires, only ETERNAL HAPPINESS remains, because that is his projection.

It is very subtle and beyond the imagination of the common man.

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Srimannarayana K V
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    @srimannarayankv See this answer – Aby Oct 15 '15 at 16:59
  • @Aby: I think you missed my point. I am not quoting what Purushasuukta was telling. I am asking what Arjuna actually saw. It was the report of Sanjaya to Dhritarashtra. Sri Krishna never said that is my UNIVERSAL FORM. He only said "see whatever you want to see - द्रष्टुमिच्छसि" . Whatever Arjuna saw was whatever he had wished for, but not what the realty is. The Realty will be according to One's elevated level of perception. For the one who conquered his desires, it will be the ETERNAL HAPPINESS, which is beyond comprehension, that can only be experienced. – Srimannarayana K V Oct 16 '15 at 00:54
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    Good question. @Aby even I too feel that, Arjuna saw according to his then knowledge and surrounding. In today's time such seeker would have seen a different version. In nutshell, it's a gateway to all relevant events of past, present, future. I also agree that, this doesn't negate the possibility of not showing the universal form. For that very purpose Arjuna(& even Sanjaya) was given divine vision. Sanjaya might have chosen to describe Arjuna's version for the sake of Dhritarashtra's interest. The term "Vishwaroopam" is most fitted for this, though not explicitly described by Krishna. – iammilind Oct 16 '15 at 01:31
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    @Keshav and Srimannarayankv, I just gave the reference of the other answer so that other people know that Vishwaroopa is not a myth (which people can misunderstood with this question). If there are multiple instances then people can compare and think in more detailed manner. Btw, I think if Arjun was given Divine eyesight, it should be for some purpose or Divyadrishti is a metaphor for divine understanding. Also, 'see whatever you want to see' can also mean 'see whatever you want to see, everything is related to me' – Aby Oct 16 '15 at 08:41
  • @Aby: I don't mind if you give some other references also. And, please note that I never said.Vishwaroopa is a MYTH. If vishwaroopa is a myth, how can many sages have become realised? I think, my posting hurt you. If that is the case I am sorry. However, the fact remains. – Srimannarayana K V Oct 16 '15 at 11:16
  • @Srimannarayankv I am not hurt so no need to be sorry. Its a healthy discussion. And you never said myth but I just posted it for the sake of other people who might misunderstood the same. Kind of just related link. Btw, I am happy that you are asking such good questions going deep into words which helps us also in improving our knowledge and seeing things from a different angle. – Aby Oct 16 '15 at 11:34
  • Arjuna can only see if Krishna wants him to see. Krishna said "Now behold, O Arjuna, in this, My body". Let me give you an example to understand this easily: if Lord puts you in a mansion, you can see whatever is present in that mansion, you can see the rooms, the kitchen and everything. But to see all those, someone has to put you in that mansion. – Pinakin Nov 11 '15 at 13:27
  • @ChinmaySarupria: Yes. A GURU like Sri Krishna should give us DIVINE sight for seeing. However, even then it is the disciple that sees. The GURU will not show anything. The disciple, according to his maturity, sees the world with DIVINE sight. So ultimately, it is disciple's vision/thinking/maturity that reflects there. If maturity is complete, the ETERNAL happiness will be experienced, which is the ULTIMATE. – Srimannarayana K V Nov 11 '15 at 15:25
  • But it has nothing to do with projection. It is not that Arjuna created things on his own but he saw only those which Krishna showed him in his body. Krishna showed him the whole universe so Arjuna could see whatever he wanted to see from that. It has nothing to do with Arjuna's mind. – Pinakin Nov 11 '15 at 15:50
  • @ChinmaySarupria: I never said Arjuna created things on his own. I stated that it is the projection of Arjuna's mind. Let me make myself clear. The DIVINE sight is like a SILVER SCREEN on which you can project movies in Theatres. And, remember Sri Krishna said - "See whatever you want to see - द्रष्टुमिच्छसि". So it is for Arjuna to see whatever he wanted to see. Now comes the crucial question - What was in Arjuna's mind? He had the concept of God as Thousand Heads, so many hands, etc. That's what he saw on the SILVER SCREEN provided by Sri Krishna. Does it mean GOD has 1000 heads? – Srimannarayana K V Nov 11 '15 at 15:57
  • @ChinmaySarupria: That is why Arjuna, after viewing the terrific shape of his version of GOD, prayed Sri Krishna to appear before him, with 4 hands and weapons therewith. That is his conception. Does the GOD contain 4 hands? The GOD can contain n number of hands and heads. So it is Arjuna's concept of GOD. That's what he saw WITH THE DIVINE VISION. – Srimannarayana K V Nov 11 '15 at 16:00
  • No, Arjuna didn't saw what was in his mind. It was not that Arjuna wanted to see 1000 head God but rather Krishna wanted to show his universal form. The different heads represent different deities. It has nothing to do with Arjuna's conception. That universal form also has everything present in this material creation. So Arjuna was able to see any God, any ocean, and each and everything that is in the manifested state. Also as I said before, if someone puts me in a mansion, I can only see what is present in that particular mansion. I cannot see things according to my own conception. – Pinakin Nov 11 '15 at 16:32
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    "See whatever you want to see - द्रष्टुमिच्छसि" Here Krishna is saying see whatever is present in my universal form(manifested creation). Example - If Krishna shows me Garbhodaka ocean and Ksheersagar so by द्रष्टुमिच्छसि he meant that see whatever you want to see among what I showed you and not something that is in your mind. – Pinakin Nov 11 '15 at 16:37
  • @ChinmaySarupria: I will try to make my point further clear. Suppose a devotee of Shakti or Shiva gets DIVINE VISION, due to his devotion towards his chosen deity, what will he see? will he see the same Viswarupa that Arjuna saw? a devotee of Shiva may see Shiva in a magnificient form and a Sakteya (devotee of Shakti) may be seeing the DIVINE form of Shakti but not that of Vishnu. So the DIVINE form of GOD is changing from the point of view of the devotee. If GOD is ONE and the SAME for all beings, then how can the DIVINE form change? – Srimannarayana K V Nov 12 '15 at 05:59
  • @ChinmaySarupria: It is only due to change of perception of the devotee concerned, but not due to change of GOD. That is what I am trying to say - projection of mind, which changes from person to person. – Srimannarayana K V Nov 12 '15 at 06:00
  • You said "a devotee of Shiva may see Shiva in a magnificient form and a Sakteya (devotee of Shakti) may be seeing the DIVINE form of Shakti", that's what I am trying to say, who will decide the form? Devotee? Absolutely Not. God will decide in which form he wants to appear before the devotee. – Pinakin Nov 13 '15 at 09:07
  • @ChinmaySarupria: I think you are missing the point. I said as per the perception of the devotee, the DIVINE form appears,i.e, for shaivite - Shiva, for Vaishnavite - Vishnu , for Shakteya - Shakti. If GOD is ONE then how can the GOD show different forms to different devotees, whose perceptions are different? The GOD show only one DIVINE form, whereas each devotee is seeing according to his perception (or) his form of worship. That is what I am trying to say - projection – Srimannarayana K V Nov 13 '15 at 10:15
  • That's what Viswarupa Darshan stands for - it contains all Gods, every beings and everything in this universe. So you can see Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and others. – Pinakin Nov 13 '15 at 10:20
  • @ChinmaySarupria: Not every Shaivite (or) Shakteya will see the same DIVINE VISION that Arjuna saw. It will be different for each devotee according to his deity. – Srimannarayana K V Nov 13 '15 at 10:29
  • The vision will be different because not every God will show Vishwarupa darshan to his devotee. In the past many people saw Vishnu but not his Vishwarupa. It was only shown to Arjuna. – Pinakin Nov 13 '15 at 10:31
  • @ChinmaySarupria: I could not recollect immediately, but there were many devotees of Shiva and Shakti, who got the vision of respective deities. They might have obtained DIVINE VISION also. We can not rule out such a possibility. Then? Should we say even then that they saw what Arjuna saw, i.e, Vishnu with 4 hands? – Srimannarayana K V Nov 13 '15 at 12:04
  • When did I say devotees of Shiva and Shakti didn't got the vision of their respective deities? What I want to say is that DIVINE VISION of Vishnu is different to Vishwarupa of Vishnu. – Pinakin Nov 17 '15 at 10:52
  • If someone from a different timewarp were to see me chatting with my friend on Skype today, they may ask whether it was projection of our minds, or was it real. If such is the nature of man-made stuff, one can imagine the possibilities with a mega event like Viswarupa Darshan, what with the Universal Lord himself involved with his close friend and disciple ? – Whirl Mind Nov 25 '15 at 18:59
  • Simple logic "if its imagination of Arjun how come Sanjay can see this?" Who later narrated the same to Dritharashtra. :) – SrikanthMyakam Dec 17 '15 at 00:21

4 Answers4

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It has nothing to do with imagination. We have to examine that quote in context:

Arjuna said: ... "O greatest of all personalities, O supreme form, though I see You here before me in Your actual position, as You have described Yourself, I wish to see how You have entered into this cosmic manifestation. I want to see that form of Yours. If You think that I am able to behold Your cosmic form, O my Lord, O master of all mystic power, then kindly show me that unlimited universal Self."

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: "My dear Arjuna, O son of Pṛthā, see now My opulences, hundreds of thousands of varied divine and multicolored forms. O best of the Bhāratas, see here the different manifestations of Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Aśvinī-kumāras and all the other demigods. Behold the many wonderful things which no one has ever seen or heard of before. O Arjuna, whatever you wish to see, behold at once in this body of Mine! This universal form can show you whatever you now desire to see and whatever you may want to see in the future. Everything – moving and nonmoving – is here completely, in one place."

So the form that Krishna shows Arjuna is the specific form that Arjuna wished to see, i.e. the Sahasrashirsha Purusha form that Vishnu took when he entered the Universe. It is described the same way it is described in other scriptures, like the Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda as I discuss in my answer here.

So that's what "whatever you wished to see" means here - whatever form you just asked to see. And he also says "whatever you may wish to see in future", i.e. the outcome of the war. Here is Adi Shankaracharya's commentary on the verse:

Pasya, see; adya, now; O Gudakesa, the krtsnam, entire; jagat, Universe; sa-cara-acaram, existing together with the moving and the non-moving; ekastham, concentrated at the same place; iha, here; mama dehe, in My body; ca, as also; yat anyat, whatever else-even those victory, defeat, etc. with regard to which you expressed doubt in, ‘whether we shall win, or whether they shall conquer us’ (2.6); if icchasi, you would like; drastum, to see them.

And here's Ramanujacharya's commentary:

‘Here’, in this one body of Mine, and even there, gathered together in a single spot, behold the universe with all mobile and immobile entities. Whatever else you desire to see (i.e., Arjuna’s chances of victory), behold that also in one part of this single body.

So it is not the form that is dependent on Arjuna's desires, it is just the vision of Pandavas' victory that Krishna shows in response to Arjuna's desire to know the outcome of the battle.

So Arjuna really did see Vishnu's Vishwarupa.

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Keshav Srinivasan
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  • It depends on how you see it. – Srimannarayana K V Nov 11 '15 at 16:02
  • @srimannarayanakv Well, you're an Advaitin, right? Adi Shankaracharya is very clear in his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 11 '15 at 16:10
  • you have just quoted the meaning of the sloka as given by Sri Sankaraacharya, but not the commentary of it. Yes, I prefer Advaita to some other school. Even Sri Ramana Maharshi was an Advaitin. You can go through his teachings - Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. I learnt many of my views that I hold now from those teachings only. – Srimannarayana K V Nov 11 '15 at 16:16
  • @srimannarayanakv I did quote the commentary. That is just how Adi Shankaracharya's commentary on the Bhagavad Gita is structured - it's interspersed with the words of the verse. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 11 '15 at 16:17
  • From the link you have provided in your answer, I could see only the word by word meaning only. Commentary means it should discuss at length, the purpose/meaning of/the context in which each word was used. That is not forthcoming in the link – Srimannarayana K V Nov 11 '15 at 16:22
  • @srimannarayanakv Well, sometimes Adi Shankaracharya makes lengthy comments on a verse, sometimes when the meaning is clear he doesn't feel any need to make lengthy comments. Here Adi Shankaracharya thinks the meaning is clear - "whatever else" you wish to see simply means the outcome of the war. It doesn't mean the form that is shown. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 11 '15 at 16:25
  • I do not know how to give link to a pdf document from my computer. otherwise I would have provided a link to the extract of Sri Ramana Maharshi's answer to this – Srimannarayana K V Nov 11 '15 at 16:26
  • @KeshavSrinivasan how "outcome of war" was interpreted from that sloka? Did Krishna mean to see "future events" in his body? – The Destroyer Nov 11 '15 at 16:35
  • @srimannarayanakv You can upload the PDF to Google Drive, and then share the link to it. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 11 '15 at 16:50
  • Let me try the Google drive method – Srimannarayana K V Nov 11 '15 at 22:29
  • @KeshavSrinivasan: Please go through the PDF document https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B82nfcjKE_FQM1BRR045dkxWVDg/view?usp=sharing – Srimannarayana K V Nov 11 '15 at 22:59
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It is definitely not Imagination. Krishna is clearly speaking here about His universal form as quoted in above answer by Keshav.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, O son of Pṛthā, see now My opulences, hundreds of thousands of varied divine and multicolored forms. O best of the Bhāratas, see here the different manifestations of Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Aśvinī-kumāras and all the other demigods. Behold the many wonderful things which no one has ever seen or heard of before.

More over later Sanjaya is admitting that he is also seeing the same thing(BG 11.9). So here Sanjaya uses the word ' darśayām āsa' which means 'Showed'.

Sanjaya doesnt say that 'Arjuna saw the universal form'. Sanjaya is admitting that even he saw the Lord menifesting His universal form.

Sañjaya said: O King, having spoken thus, the Supreme Lord of all mystic power, the Personality of Godhead, displayed His universal form to Arjuna. Arjuna saw in that universal form unlimited mouths, unlimited eyes, unlimited wonderful visions. The form was decorated with many celestial ornaments and bore many divine upraised weapons. He wore celestial garlands and garments, and many divine scents were smeared over His body. All was wondrous, brilliant, unlimited, all-expanding.

And Sanjaya goes on for quite some time in acknowledging same things which Arjuna confirms that he is seeing in universal form. Of course Lord Krishna and Arjuna are higher authorities than Sanjaya. But than Sanjaya is also seeing the same thing.

How could two different people imagine the same thing at same time?

Not only Sanjaya but in the end Barbarik; a rakshasa also acknowledges the mystic opulence of Lord as exhibited by Krishna in Kurukshetra battlefield.

Vishal prabhu lawande
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It's a request before giving your baseless explainations kindly go through the other shloks in ch 11 you will get the answer whether Krishna really showed Arjuna his vishwarup. He was not a normal human who would bluff without base to manipulate his powers for show off. He did show. And that's the reason he specified not all can see this form and to Arjuna he gave specific visioning ability to see Krishna in his vishwarup form. That is the reason you will never be able to even feel Krishna's essence coz you are a doubtful creature yourself and dared to change the meaning till a limited Shlok of a scripture like Bhagwad Gita. Pls go to books of inner improvement and trust you will understand better at least my words. Krishna's is impossible for you to understand.

Rakhi Dutta
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    Welcome to Hinduism StackExchange! Be respectful to others and cite some sources. visit [help] – Pandya Sep 14 '18 at 16:55
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    I feel the answer is a comment. Instead of quoting just shloka 11.5 and 11.6, the following shlokas will reveal the actuality. So Rakhi Dutta's message is correct - but yes Pandya's advice is absolutely just. – Suresh Ramaswamy Sep 15 '18 at 02:26
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If it is just a mere projection of Arjuna's mind, in what way it is different from everybody's mind. Then what is the need for Arjuna's imagination to be recorded in such valuable scripture like Bhagavad Gita.

Scripture contains only truth (facts)...not fantasies.

Ankit Sharma
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    Welcome to Hinduism SE! Answers on this site should be elaborate enough to solve the questioner's doubts and should contain relevant texts from Hindu scriptures, eg, Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, etc to support your answer. Please either edit your answer to provide more details or delete/comment instead. – Aby Dec 15 '15 at 07:35