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Bhagavad-gītā 11.9

सञ्जय उवाच एवमुक्त्वा ततो राजन्महायोगेश्वरो हरि: । दर्शयामास पार्थाय परमं रूपमैश्वरम् ॥ ९ ॥
sañjaya uvāca
[sanjaya uvaacha]
evam uktvā tato rājan
[evam uktvaa tato raajan]
mahā-yogeśvaro hariḥ
[mahaa-yogeshvaro harih]
darśayām āsa pārthāya
[darshayaam aasa paarthaaya]
paramaṁ rūpam aiśvaram
[paramam roopam aishvaram]
Word-for-word
sañjayaḥ uvāca — Sañjaya said evam — thus uktvā — saying tataḥ — thereafter rājan — O King mahā - yoga - īśvaraḥ — the most powerful mystic hariḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa darśayām āsa — showed pārthāya — unto Arjuna paramam — the divine rūpam aiśvaram — universal form .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sañjaya uvāca
sañjayaḥ uvāca
Sañjaya said
evam uktvā tato rājan
evam
thus
uktvā
saying
tataḥ
thereafter
rājan
O King
mahā-yogeśvaro hariḥ
mahā - yoga - īśvaraḥ
the most powerful mystic
hariḥ
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa
darśayām āsa pārthāya
darśayām āsa
showed
pārthāya
unto Arjuna
paramaṁ rūpam aiśvaram
paramam
the divine
rūpam aiśvaram
universal form .
Important Words
  • mahā - yoga - īśvaraḥ — the master of all mystic power
    Compound: great + yoga + lord. Sañjaya stacks the title to forestall any reduction. The being now displaying the universal form is not a yogi who has accumulated siddhi; He is the Lord of yoga itself.
  • hariḥ — the Personality of Godhead
    A Bhāgavata-tradition name. Hari is 'he who removes' — sins, attachments, illusions. Sañjaya quietly invokes the name of removal at the moment Arjuna's last illusions are about to be removed by sight.
  • darśayām āsa — displayed
    Causative perfect of dṛś — 'caused to be seen.' Kṛṣṇa is the agent of the seeing; the form does not impose itself, it is shown.
  • pārthāya — to Arjuna
    Dative — for the benefit of Pārtha. The vision is given to a specific person at a specific moment. Kṛṣṇa does not broadcast; He addresses.
  • paramam — supreme
    Adjective qualifying rūpam. Not one form among many — the highest of the aiśvarya-forms, the one Arjuna asked for in verse 3.
Sañjaya said: O King, having spoken thus, the Supreme Lord of all mystic power, the Personality of Godhead, displayed His universal form to Arjuna.
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)
Sañjaya re-enters as narrator, addressing Dhṛtarāṣṭra. He calls Kṛṣṇa Hari — 'the one who takes away' — and mahā-yogeśvara: the act of displaying the cosmic form is itself the supreme yogic feat.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
The narration-frame matters: ch. 11 is technically Sañjaya's report, granted divine sight by Vyāsa. His vocative 'rājan' addresses the blind Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who cannot see the form even by report. The name 'Hari' — beyond the friend-name 'Kṛṣṇa' — anticipates the awe-tone of what is about to be shown.
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
हे राजन्! एवम् उक्त्वा ततः महा-योग-ईश्वरः हरिः पार्थाय परम् ऐश्वरं रूपं दर्शयामास ।
he rājan! evam uktvā tataḥ mahā-yoga-īśvaraḥ hariḥ pārthāya param aiśvaraṃ rūpaṃ darśayāmāsa |
O King, having spoken thus, Hari, the great master of yoga, then displayed to the son of Pṛthā the supreme lordly form.
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
सञ्जयः उवाच
sañjayaḥ uvāca
एवम् उक्त्वा ततः राजन् महा-योग-ईश्वरः हरिः । दर्शयामास पार्थाय परमं रूपम् ऐश्वरम् ॥
evam uktvā tataḥ rājan mahā-yoga-īśvaraḥ hariḥ | darśayāmāsa pārthāya paramaṃ rūpam aiśvaram ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
एवम् evam ind. (indeclinable), adv. thus
उक्त्वा uktvā √वच् abs. (absolutive) having spoken
ततः tataḥ ind. (indeclinable), adv. then
राजन् rājan राजन् (m.) voc.sg. (vocative singular) O King
महा-योग-ईश्वरः mahā-yoga-īśvaraḥ महा (adj.) + योग (m.) + ईश्वर (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular), tatpuruṣa cpd. (compound) the great master of yoga
हरिः hariḥ हरि (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) Hari (Kṛṣṇa)
दर्शयामास darśayāmāsa √दृश् caus. (causative) perf. (perfect) periph. 3sg. displayed, caused to be seen
पार्थाय pārthāya पार्थ (m.) dat.sg. (dative singular) to the son of Pṛthā
परमम् paramam परम (adj.) acc.sg. (accusative singular)n. supreme
रूपम् rūpam रूप (n.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) form
ऐश्वरम् aiśvaram ऐश्वर (adj.) acc.sg. (accusative singular)n. lordly
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
9. Sañjaya said: O King, having spoken thus, Kṛṣṇa, the master of great yoga, showed to Arjuna His supreme, majestic form.
Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
9. Sañjaya said: O King, having spoken thus, Kṛṣṇa, the master of great yoga, showed to Arjuna the supremely powerful form.
Commentary

Having spoken, the Lord showed the universal form to Arjuna. Seeing that form, Arjuna described it to the Lord. Sañjaya relates what Arjuna said in six verses (9-14). Then (tataḥ), after giving Arjuna the celestial eyes, O Dhṛtarāṣṭra (rajan), the Lord, the great master of yoga, showed that supreme form of power to Arjuna.

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

Now, at this point, Sanjaya is describing what Arjuna saw.

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

Sañjaya, also empowered to see the universal form, next describes Arjuna’s vision.

Bhagavad Gita Notes

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
11.9 Rajan, O King, Dhrtarastra; uktva, having spoken evam, thus, in the manner stated above; tatah, thereafter; harih, Hari, Narayana; maha-yogeswarah, the great Master of Yoga-who is great (mahan) and also the master (isvara) of Yoga; darasyamasa showed; parthaya, to the son of Prtha; the paramam, supreme; aisvaram, divine; rupam, form, the Cosmic form:
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
11.9 Sanjaya said Having thus spoken, Sri Krsna, who is the great Lord of Yoga, namely, the Lord of supremely wonderful attributes - Sri Krsna who is Narayana, the Supreme Brahman now incarnated as the son of Arjuna's maternal uncle and seated as a charioteer in his chariot - showed Arjuna, the son of Pritha His paternal aunt, that Lordly form uniely His own, which is the ground of the entire universe, which is manifold and wonderful, and which rules over everything. And that form was like this:
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
11.9 Sri Abhinavagupta did not comment upon this sloka.
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
11.9 Sanjaya said Having thus spoken, O king, the great Lord of Yoga, hari (Krishna), showed to Arjuna His supreme form as the Lord.
Commentary

11.9 एवम् thus? उक्त्वा having spoken? ततः then? राजन् O king? महायोगेश्वरः the great Lord of Yoga? हरिः Hari? दर्शयामास showed? पार्थाय to Arjuna? परमम् Supreme? रूपम् form? ऐश्वरम् Sovereign.Commentary King This verse is addressed by Sanjaya to Dhritarashtra.Supreme Form The Cosmic Form.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
11.9 Sanjaya said O King, having spoken thus, thereafter, Hari [Hari: destroyer of ignorance along with its conseences.] (Krsna) the great Master of Yoga, showed to the son of Prtha the supreme divine form:
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
11.9 Sanjaya continued: "Having thus spoken, O King, the Lord Shri Krishna, the Almighty Prince of Wisdom, showed to Arjuna the Supreme Form of the Great God.
Related values & verses
Related values
Prema (Divine Love)Dana (Charity / Generosity)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Yajña (Sacrifice / Spirit of Offering)Shraddha (Faith / Reverence)
Related verses
BG 18.75 BG 11.13 BG 11.47 SB 1.1.1 SB 1.7.4 SB 11.29.43 CC Madhya 20.352 CC Ādi 1.49 CC Antya 5.87 Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 4.7BRS 1.2.281
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Sañjaya describes: having said this, the great Lord, the master of all yogic mysteries, displayed His universal form to Arjuna.
Practical Applications
  • Receive Sañjaya's narration as the lens through which we still see this scene.
  • Honor the messenger who relays the scene.
  • Don't skip narrators in your reading.
Reflection Questions
  • What narrators of the spiritual scene am I ignoring?
  • What does honoring them open?
Analogy

When the curtain rises, the narrator's voice fills in what no actor can show: who is speaking, in what register, to whom. Sañjaya is that narrator, and his single sentence — evam uktvā, having spoken thus — frames the entire vision that follows.

Stories
Sañjaya's Reporting Voice

Throughout the Bhagavad-gītā, Sañjaya appears only at hinge moments — opening verse, the divya-cakṣus granted at the start, and again here at the unveiling of the universal form (Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma-parva).

His voice in 11.9 — mahā-yogeśvaro hariḥ — is doing theological work. He names Kṛṣṇa as both Hari and the great Lord of yoga, telling Dhṛtarāṣṭra (and us) the identity of the speaker before the form is described. Without this introduction, the wonders that follow could be misread as deva-līlā.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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