Sanskrit
अनादिमध्यान्तमनन्तवीर्य- मनन्तबाहुं शशिसूर्यनेत्रम् । पश्यामि त्वां दीप्तहुताशवक्त्रम् स्वतेजसा विश्वमिदं तपन्तम् ॥
anādimadhyāntam anantavīryam anantabāhuṃ śaśisūryanetram paśyāmi tvāṃ dīptahutāśavaktraṃ svatejasā viśvam idaṃ tapantam
Translation
Nor source, nor midst, nor end; infinite force, unnumbered arms, the sun and moon Thine eyes I see Thy face, as sacrificial fire blazing, its splendour burneth up the worlds.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The sun and moon as eyes (śaśisūryanetram) is cosmic-body imagery with deep roots in Vedic hymns to Puruṣa, but the line that follows turns it dangerous: a mouth like blazing sacrificial fire, scorching the universe by its own radiance. This is the pivot verse — description shifts here from awe-struck cataloguing toward something closer to threat, setting up the mouths-as-devouring-jaws imagery that dominates verses 25 through 30. Sun and moon for eyes is old Puruṣa-hymn imagery, but the mouth “like blazing sacrificial fire, scorching the universe” turns it dangerous. This is the pivot from awe-struck cataloguing toward threat — the devouring-jaws imagery of BG 11.25–BG 11.30.
Study deeper
Word by word
- anādimadhyāntam anantavīryamअनादिमध्यान्तं अनन्तवीर्यं
- without beginning, middle, or end, of infinite power (an-ādi-madhya-antam + ananta-vīryam)
- anantabāhuṃ śaśisūryanetramअनन्तबाहुं शशिसूर्यनेत्रं
- with infinite arms, the moon and sun for eyes (ananta-bāhum + śaśi-sūrya-netram)
- paśyāmi tvāṃ dīptahutāśavaktraṃपश्यामि त्वां दीप्तहुताशवक्त्रं
- I see you, with a mouth of blazing fire (paśyāmi + tvām + dīpta-hutāśa-vaktram)
- svatejasā viśvam idaṃ tapantamस्वतेजसा विश्वं इदं तपन्तं
- scorching this universe with your own radiance (sva-tejasā + viśvam + idam + tapantam)
Commentary
Site Commentary
“Svatejasā” — by its own splendor — is the detail that reframes the danger: the worlds aren’t being attacked, they’re being burned by the same radiance that makes the vision visible at all. There’s no separate act of aggression here, just scale itself becoming destructive past a certain point. The same light that lets Arjuna see is, without changing anything about itself, also what’s now scorching the universe.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- Recognize that something can become harmful purely through its own scale or intensity, without any hostile intent behind it — a strength or a truth, pushed past a certain size or pace, can start to do damage simply by being what it is, not because it turned against you.
Professional
- A practice that's genuinely good at small scale — aggressive optimization, rapid iteration — can become destructive purely through scale, with no change in intent; watch for the point where a strength turns costly just by growing, not by going wrong.
Family & Social
- Intensity in a relationship — passion, honesty, closeness — can become harmful simply by outgrowing what either person can handle, without either side meaning harm; watch for scale itself becoming the problem, not just bad intent.
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