FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 11.2

भवाप्ययौ हि भूतानां श्रुतौ विस्तरशो मया । त्वत्त: कमलपत्राक्ष माहात्म्यमपि चाव्ययम् ॥ २ ॥
bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṁ
[bhavaapyayau hi bhootaanaam]
śrutau vistaraśo mayā
[shrutau vistarasho mayaa]
tvattaḥ kamala-patrākṣa
[tvattah kamala-patraaksha]
māhātmyam api cāvyayam
[maahaatmyam api chaavyayam]
Word-for-word
bhava — appearance apyayau — disappearance hi — certainly bhūtānām — of all living entities śrutau — have been heard vistaraśaḥ — in detail mayā — by me tvattaḥ — from You kamala - patra - akṣa — O lotus-eyed one māhātmyam — glories api — also ca — and avyayam — inexhaustible .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṁ
bhava
appearance
apyayau
disappearance
hi
certainly
bhūtānām
of all living entities
śrutau vistaraśo mayā
śrutau
have been heard
vistaraśaḥ
in detail
mayā
by me
tvattaḥ kamala-patrākṣa
tvattaḥ
from You
kamala - patra - akṣa
O lotus-eyed one
māhātmyam api cāvyayam
māhātmyam
glories
api
also
ca
and
avyayam
inexhaustible .
Important Words
  • bhava — appearance
    Bhava and apyaya together cover the whole life of every entity. Arjuna is signalling that he has heard Kṛṣṇa's cosmology (chapters 7–10) and is ready to see its source.
  • apyayau — disappearance
    Dual locative. Birth and dissolution treated as a pair — the same Lord presides over both. The dual form refuses to split creation from destruction.
  • kamala - patra - akṣa — O lotus-petal-eyed one
    A vocative of intimate praise. Even as Arjuna is about to ask for the awful viśva-rūpa, he addresses Kṛṣṇa first by His lotus-eyed sweetness — the request for the terrible is framed by the tender.
  • māhātmyam — glories
    Not mere mahattva (greatness) but māhātmya — glory as ontological status. Arjuna has heard not Kṛṣṇa's adjectives but His being.
  • avyayam — inexhaustible
    A favourite Gītā word for the Lord and the self. Glory that cannot be spent — what Arjuna has heard cannot be exhausted by hearing alone, which is precisely why he must now ask to see.
O lotus-eyed one, I have heard from You in detail about the appearance and disappearance of every living entity and have realized Your inexhaustible glories.
Classical Sanskrit analysis शास्त्रीय विश्लेषण
How Sanskrit scholars read this verse — split, rearranged, grammar-tagged. For the plain English distilled meaning, jump to Plain meaning below.
Auto-generated study layers — original analysis of the public-domain śloka. Review against a published edition for academic work.
Plain meaning (तात्पर्य · Tātparya)
Arjuna recalls the cosmological survey of ch. 7-10: he has heard from Kṛṣṇa Himself about how all beings emerge and dissolve, and about the unending divine greatness. The vocative 'lotus-eyed' tenderizes the address — gratitude precedes the daring request that follows.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
Two technical terms recap what was taught: bhava-apyayau (emergence-dissolution, the cycle of manifestation handled in ch. 7-10) and avyaya māhātmya (the inexhaustible glory exhibited in the vibhūti-yoga of ch. 10). Arjuna's emphasis on 'from You' (tvattaḥ) underlines that this is direct, not borrowed, knowledge — a precondition for asking to see what he has heard.
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
हे कमल-पत्र-अक्ष! भूतानां भव-अप्ययौ अव्ययं माहात्म्यम् अपि च मया त्वत्तः विस्तरशः हि श्रुतौ ।
he kamala-patra-akṣa! bhūtānāṃ bhava-apyayau avyayaṃ māhātmyam api ca mayā tvattaḥ vistaraśaḥ hi śrutau |
O lotus-petal-eyed one, the origin and dissolution of beings, and also Your inexhaustible greatness, have indeed been heard by me from You in detail.
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
भव-अप्ययौ हि भूतानां श्रुतौ विस्तरशः मया । त्वत्तः कमल-पत्र-अक्ष माहात्म्यम् अपि च अव्ययम् ॥
bhava-apyayau hi bhūtānāṃ śrutau vistaraśaḥ mayā | tvattaḥ kamala-patra-akṣa māhātmyam api ca avyayam ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
भव-अप्ययौ bhava-apyayau भव (m.) + अप्यय (m.) nom.du. (nominative dual), dvandva cpd. (compound) origin and dissolution
हि hi ind. (indeclinable), emphatic indeed
भूतानाम् bhūtānām भूत (n.) gen.pl. (genitive plural) of beings
श्रुतौ śrutau √श्रु p.p.p. (past passive participle) nom.du. (nominative dual)m. (were) heard
विस्तरशः vistaraśaḥ ind. (indeclinable), adv. in detail, extensively
मया mayā अस्मद् (pron. (pronoun)) ins.sg. (instrumental singular) by me
त्वत्तः tvattaḥ युष्मद् (pron. (pronoun)) abl.sg. (ablative singular), adv. form from You
कमल-पत्र-अक्ष kamala-patra-akṣa कमल (n.) + पत्र (n.) + अक्ष (n.) voc.sg. (vocative singular)m., bahuvrīhi cpd. (compound) O lotus-petal-eyed one
माहात्म्यम् māhātmyam माहात्म्य (n.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) greatness, glory
अपि api ind. (indeclinable) also
च ca ind. (indeclinable) and
अव्ययम् avyayam अ + वि + √इ p.p.p. (past passive participle) acc.sg. (accusative singular)n., adj. inexhaustible
Purport

Arjuna addresses Lord Kṛṣṇa as “lotus-eyed” (Kṛṣṇa’s eyes appear just like the petals of a lotus flower) out of his joy, for Kṛṣṇa has assured him, in a previous chapter, ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā: “I am the source of the appearance and disappearance of this entire material manifestation.” Arjuna has heard of this from the Lord in detail. Arjuna further knows that in spite of His being the source of all appearances and disappearances, He is aloof from them. As the Lord has said in the Ninth Chapter, He is all-pervading, yet He is not personally present everywhere. That is the inconceivable opulence of Kṛṣṇa which Arjuna admits that he has thoroughly understood.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
2. O lotus-eyed one, in detail I have heard about the creation and dissolution of all beings arising through You, as well as how You remain unaffected as well.
Commentary

I have heard plenty about the creation and destruction of the living entities coming from You (tvattaḥ) in the middle six chapters, in such statements as ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā: I am the creation and destruction of the universe. And I have also heard how You remain aloof and unaffected in spite of being the creator and destroyer (māhātmyam avyayam), in such verses as mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam: I am pervading all this universe; and na ca māṁ tāni karmāṇi nibadhnanti: these actions do not bind Me.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
2. O lotus-eyed one, many times I have heard from You about the creation and dissolution of all beings arising through You, about Your great powers, as well as how You remain unaffected.
Commentary

O louts-eyed Lord! Those two eyes are long and reddish at the tips like lotus petals, and their beauty is intensified by Your intense prema for Your devotees! I have heard from You directly (tvattaḥ) many times (vistaraśaḥ) about the creation and dissolution of all beings caused by You (tvattaḥ). I have heard about Your eternal powers (avyayam māhātymam) in such words as ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā: I am the creation and destruction of the whole universe. (BG 7.6) And I have heard from You also that, though You are the creator of everything, You do not undergo change (avyayam); though You are the controller of all, You do not associate with and become affected by the controlled entities. This You have stated in such verses as mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam: I pervade the whole universe; all beings are in Me, but I am not in them. (BG 9.4)

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

In the first six chapters of Bhagavad‑gita it was described about every living entity. What is the body? What is the soul? How to remove sorrow due to grieving for what is not worthy of grief? And in the second six chapters up to this point, Arjuna heard Krsna's amazing glories. That He is the origin and dissolution of the creation of the all universe. He has heard that Krsna is inexhaustible, the ruler and all prakrti is under Him. He has heard all these things.

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Arjuna expresses his understanding that “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead”

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
11.2 Kamala-partraksa, O You with eyes like lotus leaves; bhava-apyayau, the origin and dissolution- these two; bhutanam, of beings; srutau, have been heard; maya, by me; vistarasah, in detail-not in brief; tvattah, from You. Ca, and; (Your) avyayam, undecaying; mahatmyam, glory, too;-has been heard-(these last words) remain understood.
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
11.2 Likewise, beginning from the seventh, and ending with the tenth discourse, the origination and dissolution of all beings other than You, as issuing from You, the Supreme Self, have been heard at length by me. Your unlimited greatness, immutable and eternal, Your principalship (Sesitva) over all sentient and non-sentient things, Your supreme greatness consisting of the host of auspicious attributes like knowledge, strength etc., Your being the supporter of all things and actuator of all activities like thinking, blinking etc., have also been heard. Here the term, 'hi' (verily) expresses the desire to have the vision which is going to be revealed.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
11.2 Sri Abhinavagupta did not comment upon this sloka.
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
11.2 The origin and the destruction of beings verily have been heard by me in detail from Thee, O lotus-eyed Lord, and also Thy inexhaustible greatness.
Commentary

11.2 भवाप्ययौ the origin and the dissolution? हि indeed? भूतानाम् of beings? श्रुतौ hav been heard? विस्तरशः in detail? मया by me? त्वत्तः from Thee? कमलपत्राक्ष O lotuseyed? माहात्म्यम् greatness? अपि also? च and? अव्ययम् inexhaustible.Commentary Kamalapatraksha Lotuseyed or having eyes like lotuspetals. Kamalapatra also means knowledge of the Self. He who can be obtained by knowledge of the Self is Kamalapatraksha.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
11.2 O you with eyes like lotus leaves, the origin and dissolution of beings have been heard by me in detail from You. ['From You have been heard the origin and dissolution of beings in You.'] And (Your) undecaying glory, too, (has been heard).
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
11.2 O Lord, whose eyes are like the lotus petal! Thou hast described in detail the origin and the dissolution of being, and Thine own Eternal Majesty.
Related values & verses
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)
Related verses
BG 10.19 BG 7.6 BG 9.7 SB 2.9.33 SB 10.14.21 SB 11.3.2 CC Ādi 2.5 CC Madhya 20.152 CC Madhya 21.10 Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.10
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Arjuna acknowledges that he has heard about Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance and inexhaustible glory.
Practical Applications
  • Cultivate explicit acknowledgment of what has been received in scripture.
  • Speak back what you have heard, like Arjuna recapping.
  • Don't hold teachings silently.
Reflection Questions
  • What teaching has been so quietly received that I haven't spoken it back?
  • What would speaking it back deepen?
Analogy

A pilgrim who has read every map of the mountain now asks for one glimpse of the peak. The maps were not wasted — they brought him to the trailhead — but at the trailhead the eye begins to ache for what the ear has memorised.

Stories
Brahmā in the Second Canto

In the Bhāgavatam (SB 2.9), Brahmā receives the four essential verses of the catuḥ-ślokī after long austerity. Kṛṣṇa first gives him the description — the words about His own nature — and only afterward does the form become available to his meditation.

Arjuna's request follows the same order. Hearing about the appearance and disappearance of beings precedes the wish to see; the description prepares the eye.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

← Read full Chapter 11