Arjuna

Yea! I have seen! I see!

Lord! all is wrapped in Thee!

The gods are in Thy glorious frame! the creatures

Of earth, and heaven, and hell

In Thy Divine form dwell,

And in Thy countenance show all the features

Of Brahma, sitting lone

Upon His lotus-throne;

Of saints and sages, and the serpent races

Ananta, Vâsuki.

Yea! mightiest Lord! I see

Thy thousand thousand arms, and breasts, and faces,

And eyes, -- on every side

Perfect, diversified;

And nowhere end of Thee, nowhere beginning,

Nowhere a centre! Shifts

Wherever soul's gaze lifts

Thy central Self, all-willing, and all-winning!

Infinite King! I see

The anadem on Thee,

The club, the shell, the discus; see Thee burning

In beams insufferable,

Lighting earth, heaven, and hell

With brilliance blinding, glorious, flashing, turning

Darkness to dazzling day,

Look I whichever way.

Ah, Lord! I worship Thee, the Undivided,

The Uttermost of thought,

The Treasure-Palace wrought

To hold the wealth of the worlds; the shield provided

To shelter Virtue's laws;

The Fount whence Life's stream draws

All waters of all rivers of all being:

The One Unborn, Unending:

Unchanging and unblending!

With might and majesty, past thought, past seeing!

Silver of moon and gold

Of sun are glances rolled

From Thy great eyes; Thy visage beaming tender

Over the stars and skies,

Doth to warm life surprise

Thy Universe. The worlds are filled with wonder

Of Thy perfections! Space

Star-sprinkled, and the place

From pole to pole of the heavens, from bound to bound,

Hath Thee in every spot,

Thee, Thee! -- Where Thou art not

O Holy, Marvellous Form! is nowhere found!

O Mystic, Awful One!

At sight of Thee, made known,

The Three Worlds quake; the lower gods draw nigh Thee;

They fold their palms, and bow

Body, and breast, and brow,

And, whispering worship, laud and magnify Thee!

Rishis and Siddhas cry

"Hail! Highest Majesty!"

From sage and singer breaks the hymn of glory

In holy melody,

Sounding the praise of Thee,

While countless companies take up the story,

Rudras, who rides the storms,

Th' Adityas' shining forms,

Vasus and Sâdhyas, Viswas, Ushmapas,

Maruts, and those great Twins,

The heavenly, fair, Aswins,

Gandharvas, Rakshasas, Siddhas, Asuras, --

These see Thee, and revere

In silence-stricken fear;

Yea! the Worlds, -- seeing Thee with form stupendous,

With faces manifold,

With eyes which all behold,

Unnumbered eyes, vast arms, members tremendous,

Flanks, lit with sun and star,

Feet planted near and far,

Tushes of terror, mouths wrathful and tender; --

The Three wide Worlds before Thee

Adore, as I adore Thee,

Quake, as I quake, to witness so much splendor!

I mark Thee strike the skies

With front in wondrous wise

Huge, rainbow-painted, glittering; and thy mouth

Opened, and orbs which see

All things, whatever be,

In all Thy worlds, east, west, and north and south.

O Eyes of God! O Head!

My strength of soul is fled,

Gone is heart's force, rebuked is mind's desire!

When I behold Thee so,

With awful brows a-glow,

With burning glance, and lips lighted with fire,

Fierce as those flames which shall

Consume, at close of all,

Earth, Heaven! Ah me! I see no Earth and Heaven!

Thee, Lord of Lords! I see,

Thee only -- only Thee!

Ah! let Thy mercy unto me be given!

Thou Refuge of the World!

Lo! to the cavern hurled

Of Thy wide-opened throat, and lips white-tushed,

I see our noblest ones,

Great Dhritarashtra's sons,

Bhishma, Drona, and Karna, caught and crushed!

The Kings and Chiefs drawn in,

That gaping gorge within;

The best of all both armies torn and riven!

Between Thy jaws they lie

Mangled fell bloodily,

Ground into dust and death! Like streams down driven

With helpless haste, which go

In headlong furious flow

Straight to the gulfing maw of th' unfilled ocean,

So to that flaming cave

These heroes great and brave

Pour, in unending streams, with helpless motion!

Like months which in the night

Flutter towards a light,

Drawn to their fiery doom, flying and dying,

So to their death still throng,

Blind, dazzled, borne along

Ceaselessly, all these multitudes, wild flying!

Thou, that hast fashioned men,

Devourest them agen,

One with another, great and small, alike!

The creatures whom Thou mak'st,

With flaming jaws Thou tak'st,

Lapping them up! Lord God! Thy terrors strike

From end to end of earth,

Filling life full, from birth

To death, with deadly, burning, lurid dread!

Ah, Vishnu! make me know

Why is Thy visage so?

Who art Thou, feasting thus upon Thy dead?

Who? awful Deity!

I bow myself to Thee,

Nâmostu Tê Devavara! Prasîd!

O Mightiest Lord! rehearse

Why hast Thou face so fierce?

Whence did this aspect horrible proceed?