Sanskrit
दिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य भवेद्युगपदुत्थिता । यदि भाः सदृशी सा स्याद्भासस्तस्य महात्मनः ॥
divi sūryasahasrasya bhaved yugapad utthitā yadi bhāḥ sadṛśī sā syād bhāsas tasya mahātmanaḥ
Translation
If the splendour of a thousand suns were to blaze out together in the sky, that might resemble the glory of that Mahâtman.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Probably the most quoted single image outside the “Time, the destroyer of worlds” line in verse 32 — and it’s worth noticing what kind of comparison it actually is. This is Sanjaya’s own simile, not Arjuna’s or Krishna’s: the narrator reaching for the largest available unit of brightness he has and explicitly conceding it as only an approximation (“that might resemble”), not an equivalence. The vision exceeds even the narrator’s best analogy before Arjuna has said a word about it himself. This is Sanjaya’s own simile, and he concedes it as approximation, not equivalence (“that would be like”). The vision exceeds even the narrator’s best analogy before Arjuna has spoken a word. The image is the chapter’s second most quoted, after BG 11.32.
Study deeper
Word by word
- divi sūryasahasrasyaदिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य
- in the sky, of a thousand suns (divi + sūrya-sahasrasya)
- bhaved yugapad utthitāभवेद् युगपद् उत्थिता
- were [their light] to blaze forth at once (bhavet + yugapat + utthitā)
- yadi bhāḥ sadṛśī sā syādयदि भाः सदृशी सा स्याद्
- if [such] radiance — that would be like (yadi + bhāḥ + sadṛśī + sā + syāt)
- bhāsas tasya mahātmanaḥभासस् तस्य महात्मनः
- the splendour of that great Being (bhāsaḥ + tasya + mahā-ātmanaḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
This famous image belongs to Sanjaya, not to Arjuna or Krishna — a narrator’s own aside, reaching for the single largest unit of brightness available to him and then hedging it immediately with “might resemble.” Even someone granted the vantage point to see everything doesn’t claim his comparison is exact; the honesty of the hedge is doing as much work as the size of the image. A report can be vivid and still admit its own approximation in the same breath.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you try to describe an experience that exceeded your normal reference points, reach for the biggest comparison you have and say plainly that it's only an approximation — vividness and honesty about your own limits aren't in tension.
Professional
- When reporting an incident or outcome that's hard to quantify precisely, use your best available comparison to convey scale, but flag explicitly that it's an approximation — a hedged vivid estimate is more useful to decision-makers than a false precise number.
Family & Social
- When trying to describe an emotional experience to someone who wasn't there, use the strongest comparison you have, but say openly that it's only the closest thing you could find — that honesty makes the comparison more trustworthy, not less vivid.
Ask yourself
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