Sanskrit
मा ते व्यथा मा च विमूढभावो दृष्ट्वा रूपं घोरमीदृङ्ममेदम् । व्यपेतभीः प्रीतमनाः पुनस्त्वम् तदेव मे रूपमिदं प्रपश्य ॥
mā te vyathā mā ca vimūḍhabhāvo dṛṣṭvā rūpaṃ ghoram īdṛṅ mamedam vyapetabhīḥ prītamanāḥ punas tvam tad eva me rūpam idaṃ prapaśya
Translation
Be not bewildered, be thou not afraid, Because thou hast beheld this awful Form; Cast fear away, and let thy heart rejoice; Behold again Mine own familiar shape.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The plea Arjuna made back in verse 45 — show me the other form — is granted here without any further test or condition attached. Krishna doesn’t ask Arjuna to hold steady inside the terror a little longer or prove anything further; the comfort is immediate, “vyapetabhīḥ,” fear-departed, offered as soon as the lesson (kālo’smi, then grace, then the limits of practice) has actually landed. It’s a small but real point about how this chapter treats mercy — not as a reward earned through endurance, but as something given the moment it’s needed. The plea of BG 11.45 is granted with no further test — Krishna does not ask Arjuna to hold steady inside the terror longer. Vyapeta-bhīḥ, “fear departed,” offered as soon as the lesson has landed: mercy here is given the moment it is needed, not earned by endurance.
Study deeper
Word by word
- mā te vyathā mā ca vimūḍhabhāvoमा ते व्यथा मा च विमूढभावो
- let there be no fear in you, nor bewilderment (mā + te + vyathā + mā + ca + vimūḍha-bhāvaḥ)
- dṛṣṭvā rūpaṃ ghoram īdṛṅ mamedamदृष्ट्वा रूपं घोरं ईदृङ् ममेदं
- at seeing this fearsome form of Mine (dṛṣṭvā + rūpam + ghoram + īdṛk + mama + idam)
- vyapetabhīḥ prītamanāḥ punas tvamव्यपेतभीः प्रीतमनाः पुनस् त्वं
- free of fear, glad at heart, again you (vyapeta-bhīḥ + prīta-manāḥ + punaḥ + tvam)
- tad eva me rūpam idaṃ prapaśyaतद् एव मे रूपं इदं प्रपश्य
- behold this same form of Mine (tat + eva + me + rūpam + idam + prapaśya)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Krishna doesn’t just offer a calmer sight, he asks Arjuna to see it “punaḥ,” again — the ordinary form is framed as something being returned to, not something new being introduced. That word choice matters: recovery here isn’t presented as starting over from nothing, it’s presented as remembering a form Arjuna already knew, which is a gentler kind of return than being handed an unfamiliar comfort.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When you're overwhelmed, the first useful move is often just steadying yourself, not immediately trying to extract a lesson from the experience — meaning can come later.
Professional
- After a genuinely rough incident or setback at work, lead the retro with reassurance for the people involved before diving into root-cause analysis — both matter, but not in the same breath.
Family & Social
- Offering comfort to someone frightened or overwhelmed doesn't require waiting until they've 'earned' it by holding themselves together — this verse gives comfort immediately, on request, with no test attached.
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