extraction.bhagavad_gita.cosmic_vision
---
record_id: extraction.bhagavad_gita.cosmic_vision
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/song-celestial-bhagavad-gita.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER XI
start: CHAPTER XI
end: HERE ENDETH CHAPTER XI. OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA,
translation: The Song Celestial; Or, Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Sir Edwin Arnold
notes: Source chapter is entitled "Viswarupadarsanam," or "The Book of the Manifesting
of the One and Manifold."
canonical_text:
summary: Arjuna asks to see Krishna's fully revealed glory. Krishna grants divine
sight, displays countless forms and the universe gathered in one body, appears
as Time who destroys the assembled warriors, and then returns to the familiar
charioteer form.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Arjuna asks to see the revealed glory of Krishna's form.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Krishna says Arjuna cannot see with human eyes and gives him divine sense,
new light.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Sanjaya describes countless eyes, mouths, and mystic forms enfolded in one
form.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Sanjaya says Pandu's son sees the universe's diversity enfolded into one vast
shape.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Arjuna describes warriors from both armies lying mangled between the form's
jaws.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Krishna identifies himself as Time who kills and brings all to doom.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: Krishna tells Arjuna that the warriors fall by him, and that Arjuna is his
instrument.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: Krishna says he will again be the form Arjuna knew before.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Arjuna
description: Pritha's Son and Pandu's Son who requests and receives the vision.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Krishna
description: Speaker who manifests forms, gives divine sight, identifies himself
as Time, and returns to a familiar form.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Sanjaya
description: Narrator who reports the manifestation to the king.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: warriors of both armies
description: Includes named warriors such as Bhishma, Drona, and Karna in Arjuna's
description of the vision.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: recipient of divine sight
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Arjuna requests the revealed form and Krishna gives him divine sense and
new light.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: cosmic revealer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Krishna manifests countless forms and gathers the universe in himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: narrator
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Sanjaya reports what Krishna displayed and what Arjuna saw.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: Time who kills
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Krishna identifies himself as Time who kills and brings all to doom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: doomed battlefield figures
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Arjuna sees warriors mangled between the jaws, and Krishna says they fall
by him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: divine sight
literal_form: sense divine; other eyes, new light
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: one form of countless forms
literal_form: Countless mystic forms enfolding In one Form
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: universe in one body
literal_form: All this universe enfold All its huge diversity Into one vast shape
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: devouring jaws
literal_form: Between Thy jaws they lie Mangled full bloodily
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: slayer Time
literal_form: Time who kills; The Slayer Time
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: familiar Krishna form
literal_form: Once more I am thy Krishna, the form thou knew'st of old
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Arjuna requests the revealed form
summary: Arjuna asks to see the glory of Krishna's form, and Krishna grants him
divine sight because human eyes cannot bear the vision.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Universal form displayed
summary: Sanjaya describes the manifestation as countless eyes, mouths, and forms
in one form, and says Arjuna sees all the universe's diversity in one vast shape.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Time and the doomed warriors
summary: Arjuna sees warriors mangled between the jaws; Krishna identifies himself
as Time who kills and says the warriors fall by him while Arjuna acts as instrument.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:4
label: Return to familiar form
summary: Krishna says he will again be the form Arjuna knew before.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: cosmic_vision
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- initiation
basis: Arjuna receives divine sight and sees the universe gathered into one vast
manifested form.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: Motif label is descriptive; the extraction does not settle doctrinal or
Sanskrit philological questions.
- id: motif:2
label: theophany_of_many_forms
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Krishna manifests countless eyes, mouths, and forms in one form.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: Used as an indexing candidate rather than a claim about external parallels.
- id: motif:3
label: divine_time_and_battlefield_doom
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Krishna identifies himself as Time who kills and states that hostile chiefs
will not leave the battlefield alive.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage links doom and battle, but the extraction does not generalize
beyond this chapter.
- id: motif:4
label: instrument_of_divine_action
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Krishna says the warriors fall by him and calls Arjuna his instrument.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The record preserves the passage's wording without resolving later theological
interpretations of agency.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage is a strong candidate for a cosmic-vision or theophany pattern
in which divinely granted sight lets a human recipient perceive many forms and
the universe gathered in one body.
claim_level: same_motif
target: 'pattern atlas: cosmic vision and theophany scenes'
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: This is a motif classification for comparison; it does not claim historical
contact with any other tradition.
- id: claim:2
claim: The chapter also links cosmic manifestation to battlefield action by showing
warriors already doomed in the divine form and by naming Arjuna as an instrument.
claim_level: same_function
target: 'pattern atlas: revelation authorizing action'
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: low
limitations: The claim is limited to the stated passage sequence and does not treat
the wider epic context.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: CHAPTER XI
quote_or_summary: Fain would I see, As thou Thyself declar'st it, Sovereign Lord!
The likeness of that glory of Thy Form Wholly revealed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/song-celestial-bhagavad-gita.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: CHAPTER XI
quote_or_summary: Thou canst not!--nor, with human eyes, Arjuna! ever mayest! Therefore
I give thee sense divine. Have other eyes, new light!
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/song-celestial-bhagavad-gita.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: CHAPTER XI
quote_or_summary: 'Out of countless eyes beholding, Out of countless mouths commanding,
Countless mystic forms enfolding In one Form:'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/song-celestial-bhagavad-gita.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: CHAPTER XI
quote_or_summary: So did Pandu's Son behold All this universe enfold All its huge
diversity Into one vast shape,
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/song-celestial-bhagavad-gita.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: CHAPTER XI
quote_or_summary: The best of both these armies torn and riven! Between Thy jaws
they lie Mangled full bloodily, Ground into dust and death!
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/song-celestial-bhagavad-gita.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: CHAPTER XI
quote_or_summary: Thou seest Me as Time who kills, Time who brings all to doom,
The Slayer Time, Ancient of Days, come hither to consume;
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/song-celestial-bhagavad-gita.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: CHAPTER XI
quote_or_summary: By Me they fall--not thee! the stroke of death is dealt them now,
Even as they show thus gallantly; My instrument art thou!
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/song-celestial-bhagavad-gita.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: CHAPTER XI
quote_or_summary: Once more I am thy Krishna, the form thou knew'st of old!
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/song-celestial-bhagavad-gita.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: low
notes: Chapter-only locators are used because this source transcription provides
chapter headings and speaker labels but no verse numbers.
reviewer_status:
status: draft
notes: Draft extraction; needs human review before use as final analytical data.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Created for Wave 2 Bhagavad-Gita extraction under the owned Hindu Project Gutenberg
directory.