Sanskrit
लेलिह्यसे ग्रसमानः समन्तात् लोकान्समग्रान्वदनैर्ज्वलद्भिः । तेजोभिरापूर्य जगत्समग्रम् भासस्तवोग्राः प्रतपन्ति विष्णो ॥
lelihyase grasamānaḥ samantāt lokān samagrān vadanair jvaladbhiḥ tejobhir āpūrya jagat samagram bhāsas tavogrāḥ pratapanti viṣṇo
Translation
On every side, all-swallowing, fiery-tongued, Thou lickest up mankind, devouring all; The glory filleth space: the universe Is burning, Vishnu, with Thy blazing rays.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
“Lelihyase” — Thou lickest — pushes the imagery past teeth and jaws into outright appetite, a verb of relish rather than mere mechanism. And the direct address lands on “Viṣṇo,” Vishnu by name, the same identification verse 24 already made — this cosmic body isn’t generic divinity, it’s specifically the preserver-god’s form turned devourer, appetite and sustaining power revealed as two faces of one thing. Scale has now fully taken over from detail: it isn’t warriors anymore, it’s “jagat samagram,” the entire universe, on fire with his radiance. Lelihyase — “you lick” — pushes past mechanism into outright appetite. Addressed to “Viṣṇu”: the preserver-god’s form revealed as devourer, appetite and sustaining power as two faces of one thing. Scale has taken over from detail — it is now “the entire universe” on fire.
Study deeper
Word by word
- lelihyase grasamānaḥ samantātलेलिह्यसे ग्रसमानः समन्तात्
- you lick, devouring on all sides (lelihyase + grasamānaḥ + samantāt)
- lokān samagrān vadanair jvaladbhiḥलोकान् समग्रान् वदनैः ज्वलद्भिः
- all the worlds, with flaming mouths (lokān + samagrān + vadanaiḥ + jvaladbhiḥ)
- tejobhir āpūrya jagat samagramतेजोभिः आपूर्य जगत् समग्रं
- filling the whole universe with radiance (tejobhiḥ + āpūrya + jagat + samagram)
- bhāsas tavogrāḥ pratapanti viṣṇoभासस् तवोग्राः प्रतपन्ति विष्णो
- your fierce rays scorch [it], O Viṣṇu (bhāsaḥ + tava + ugrāḥ + pratapanti + viṣṇo)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Calling this figure “Viṣṇo” by name, rather than by any of the vaguer titles used earlier, forces the preserving and devouring functions into the same identity rather than letting readers imagine a separate destroyer god has stepped in. The poem isn’t introducing a new deity for this violent turn — it’s insisting the sustainer was always capable of this, which is a harder thing to sit with than a stranger’s cruelty would be.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- The same job, relationship, or system that has sustained you for years can also be the one that eventually consumes or ends that chapter — resist the urge to treat that as a betrayal requiring a villain; sustaining and ending can come from the same source.
Professional
- A market, a technology, or a manager that built your career's early growth can be the very force that later disrupts it — plan as if the sustaining force and the disrupting one might turn out to be identical, not separate threats to watch for.
Family & Social
- A parent or partner's steady presence and their capacity to hurt you aren't contradictions that need resolving into 'good' or 'bad' — the same closeness that sustains a relationship also gives it the power to wound; both are real at once.
Ask yourself
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