Sanskrit
इहैकस्थं जगत्कृत्स्नं पश्याद्य सचराचरम् । मम देहे गुडाकेश यच्चान्यद्द्रष्टुमिच्छसि ॥
ihaikasthaṃ jagat kṛtsnaṃ paśyādya sacarācaram mama dehe guḍākeśa yac cānyad draṣṭum icchasi
Translation
Here, to-day, behold the whole universe, movable and immovable, standing in one in My body, O Gudâkesha, with aught else thou desirest to see.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
“Ihaikasthaṃ” — here, standing-in-one — is the claim being staged: the entire universe, moving and unmoving, gathered into a single body, on this particular day, on this particular battlefield. The blank-cheque close (“with aught else thou desirest to see”) is an open invitation Arjuna hasn’t asked for yet and, going by verses 45-46, will come to regret taking Krishna up on. The epithet Guḍākeśa — “conqueror of sleep/drowsiness” — is pointed here: whatever is about to happen, Arjuna is being addressed as someone with no excuse to look away. The blank-cheque close — “and whatever else you wish to see” — is an offer Arjuna hasn’t asked for and, by BG 11.45–BG 11.46, will regret taking. Guḍākeśa, “conqueror of sleep,” is pointed: no excuse to look away.
Study deeper
Word by word
- ihaikasthaṃ jagat kṛtsnaṃइहैकस्थं जगत् कृत्स्नं
- here, standing in one, the whole universe (iha + eka-stham + jagat + kṛtsnam)
- paśyādya sacarācaramपश्याद्य सचराचरं
- behold now, moving and unmoving (paśya + adya + sa-cara-acaram)
- mama dehe guḍākeśaमम देहे गुडाकेश
- in My body, O Guḍākeśa (mama + dehe + guḍākeśa)
- yac cānyad draṣṭum icchasiयच् चान्यद् द्रष्टुं इच्छसि
- and whatever else you wish to see (yat + ca + anyat + draṣṭum + icchasi)
Commentary
Site Commentary
“With aught else thou desirest to see” is a genuinely unscoped offer — Krishna doesn’t say “behold this specific thing,” he leaves the boundary of the vision to Arjuna’s own desire, open-ended. Verses 45-46 are the bill for that lack of a boundary: once you invite someone to ask for whatever they want to see, you’ve also committed to showing them more than either of you may have planned for. The generosity and the danger are the same clause.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you offer someone an open-ended 'ask for anything,' remember that you've also committed to following through wherever that leads — unscoped generosity can produce more than either of you bargained for, so know that going in.
Professional
- When you tell a stakeholder 'ask me anything, I'll show you everything,' be aware you've removed the boundary on scope, not just extended courtesy — an unscoped offer of access or transparency is a real commitment, not a rhetorical flourish.
Family & Social
- If you tell someone close to you 'ask me anything, I'll tell you the truth,' be ready for the actual scope of what they might ask — an open invitation without a boundary means honoring whatever comes through it, even the parts you didn't anticipate.
Ask yourself
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