Sanskrit
वक्त्राणि ते त्वरमाणा विशन्ति दंष्ट्राकरालानि भयानकानि । केचिद्विलग्ना दशनान्तरेषु संदृश्यन्ते चूर्णितैरुत्तमाङ्गैः ॥
vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā viśanti daṃṣṭrākarālāni bhayānakāni kecid vilagnā daśanāntareṣu saṃdṛśyante cūrṇitair uttamāṅgaiḥ
Translation
Into Thy gaping mouths they hurrying rush, Tremendous-toothed and terrible to see; Some caught within the gaps between Thy teeth Are seen, their heads to powder crushed and ground.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Verse 25 gave Arjuna the simile — teeth “like Time’s destroying flames.” Here the simile stops being a comparison and becomes a scene: actual heads, ground to powder, lodged between actual fangs. The word “tvaramāṇāḥ,” hurrying, is doing quiet, terrible work — nobody is being pulled in against their will, they are rushing toward it, which is the detail the next two verses build their similes around. BG 11.25’s simile becomes a scene: actual heads ground to powder between actual fangs. Tvaramāṇāḥ, “hurrying” — no one is pulled in; they rush, the detail the next two similes turn on.
Study deeper
Word by word
- vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā viśantiवक्त्राणि ते त्वरमाणा विशन्ति
- they rush into your mouths (vaktrāṇi + te + tvaramāṇāḥ + viśanti)
- daṃṣṭrākarālāni bhayānakāniदंष्ट्राकरालानि भयानकानि
- fearsome with tusks, terrifying (daṃṣṭrā-karālāni + bhayānakāni)
- kecid vilagnā daśanāntareṣuकेचिद् विलग्ना दशनान्तरेषु
- some, caught between the teeth (kecit + vilagnāḥ + daśana-antareṣu)
- saṃdṛśyante cūrṇitair uttamāṅgaiḥसंदृश्यन्ते चूर्णितैः उत्तमाङ्गैः
- are seen with their heads crushed to powder (saṃdṛśyante + cūrṇitaiḥ + uttama-aṅgaiḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Two verses ago, the teeth were “like” Time’s destroying flames — a simile still holds a sliver of distance, a comparison rather than an identity. Here that distance collapses: these are described as actual heads, actually crushed, between actual teeth. The move from figurative to literal in the space of two verses is itself the point — metaphor was offering Arjuna, and the reader, a small mercy of remove, and verse 27 withdraws it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When you notice yourself moving from describing a fear as 'like' something bad to describing it as literally happening, recognize that shift as real — the comfort of metaphor has run out, and the situation may need to be faced directly rather than softened through comparison.
Professional
- When a risk you've been describing hypothetically starts being described in concrete, literal terms by your team, treat that shift in language as a signal the risk has become real, not just a change in how people are talking about it.
Family & Social
- If a worry you've voiced as a comparison — 'it's almost like we're growing apart' — starts being said plainly and literally by someone you love, don't dismiss the change in language; it usually means the softening distance of the metaphor has already run out for them.
Ask yourself
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