Sanskrit
द्यावापृथिव्योरिदमन्तरं हि व्याप्तं त्वयैकेन दिशश्च सर्वाः । दृष्ट्वाऽद्भुतं रूपमुग्रं तवेदम् लोकत्रयं प्रव्यथितं महात्मन् ॥
dyāvāpṛthivyor idam antaraṃ hi vyāptaṃ tvayaikena diśaś ca sarvāḥ dṛṣṭvādbhutaṃ rūpam ugraṃ tavedaṃ lokatrayaṃ pravyathitaṃ mahātman
Translation
By Thee alone are filled the earth, the heavens, and all the regions that are stretched between; the triple worlds sink down, O mighty One, before Thine awful manifested Form.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The scale of the report widens from Arjuna’s own perception to a claim about the entire cosmos: it isn’t only he who is shaking, it’s all three worlds (lokatrayam) trembling before the same form. The word “ugra,” fierce or terrible, is doing real work here and recurs through the verses ahead — this is the first point where the vision is named as frightening rather than merely vast, and it doesn’t let up from here. Ugra — “fierce, terrible” — is the first time the vision is named as frightening rather than merely vast, and it recurs from here on. The report widens from Arjuna’s own trembling to “all three worlds.””
Study deeper
Word by word
- dyāvāpṛthivyor idam antaraṃ hiद्यावापृथिव्योः इदं अन्तरं हि
- this space between heaven and earth (dyāvā-pṛthivyoḥ + idam + antaram + hi)
- vyāptaṃ tvayaikena diśaś ca sarvāḥव्याप्तं त्वयैकेन दिशश् च सर्वाः
- is pervaded by you alone, and all the quarters (vyāptam + tvayā + ekena + diśaḥ + ca + sarvāḥ)
- dṛṣṭvādbhutaṃ rūpam ugraṃ tavedaṃदृष्ट्वाद्भुतं रूपं उग्रं तवेदं
- seeing this fearsome, wondrous form of yours (dṛṣṭvā + adbhutam + rūpam + ugram + tava + idam)
- lokatrayaṃ pravyathitaṃ mahātmanलोकत्रयं प्रव्यथितं महात्मन्
- the three worlds tremble, O great Being (loka-trayam + pravyathitam + mahā-ātman)
Commentary
Site Commentary
By widening the report from his own reaction to a claim about all three worlds trembling, Arjuna is quietly doing something protective for himself: pre-empting the suspicion that his fear is a personal overreaction. If the whole cosmos shakes at the same sight, his own terror in the verses ahead can’t be dismissed as an individual failure of nerve — it’s simply the correct response to something objectively overwhelming.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you're afraid of something and worried the fear itself means something's wrong with you, check whether the fear is actually the objectively appropriate response to the scale of what you're facing — not every fear that shows up is a personal failing to be managed away.
Professional
- When your team is alarmed by a finding, resist the urge to individually reassure each person before confirming the scale of the actual problem — if the alarm is proportionate to real severity, validating it is more useful than downplaying it to preserve calm.
Family & Social
- If you're scared by something and someone implies you're overreacting, it's worth checking plainly whether the fear matches the actual scale of the situation — sometimes fear is simply the accurate, shared response, not a personal overreaction to manage away.
Ask yourself
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