FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 11.51

అర్జున ఉవాచ దృష్ట్వేదం మానుషం రూపం తవ సౌమ్యం జనార్దన । ఇదానీమస్మి సంవృత్త: సచేతా: ప్రకృతిం గత: ॥ ౫౧ ॥
arjuna uvāca
[arjuna uvaacha]
dṛṣṭvedaṁ mānuṣaṁ rūpaṁ
[drishtvedam maanusham roopam]
tava saumyaṁ janārdana
[tava saumyam janaardana]
idānīm asmi saṁvṛttaḥ
[idaaneem asmi samvrittah]
sa-cetāḥ prakṛtiṁ gataḥ
[sa-chetaah prakritim gatah]
Word-for-word
arjunaḥ uvāca — Arjuna said dṛṣṭvā — seeing idam — this mānuṣam — human rūpam — form tava — Your saumyam — very beautiful janārdana — O chastiser of the enemies idānīm — now asmi — I am saṁvṛttaḥ — settled sa - cetāḥ — in my consciousness prakṛtim — to my own nature gataḥ — returned .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
arjuna uvāca
arjunaḥ uvāca
Arjuna said
dṛṣṭvedaṁ mānuṣaṁ rūpaṁ
dṛṣṭvā
seeing
tava saumyaṁ janārdana
idānīm asmi saṁvṛttaḥ
idam
this
mānuṣam
human
rūpam
form
tava
Your
sa-cetāḥ prakṛtiṁ gataḥ
saumyam
very beautiful
janārdana
O chastiser of the enemies
idānīm
now
asmi
I am
saṁvṛttaḥ
settled
sa - cetāḥ
in my consciousness
prakṛtim
to my own nature
gataḥ
returned .
Important Words
  • mānuṣam — humanlike
    Adjective from manuṣya — 'of human kind.' Arjuna calls the form mānuṣa, recognising both its accessibility and its irreducibly personal character. The Caitanya-tradition will read mānuṣam here as the highest form, not the lowest.
  • saumyam — gentle
    Adjective. Same word as in 11.50's saumya-vapus. Arjuna confirms the description Sañjaya offered.
  • janārdana — O agitator of people
    Vocative — Kṛṣṇa as 'one who stirs people up.' A slightly humorous name to use at this moment: Arjuna has just been thoroughly stirred up, and is now thanking the stirrer for stopping.
  • saṁvṛttaḥ — have become
    Past participle of sam-vṛt — 'to come together, become.' Arjuna has 'come together' — his scattered faculties have re-collected.
  • sa - cetāḥ — with mind regained
    Compound: sa (with) + cetas (consciousness, mind). 'Re-minded.' The mind that fled in 11.24 has returned.
  • prakṛtim — to (my own) nature
    Accusative. Arjuna is back in his prakṛti — his proper, characteristic state. Paired with the verse's gataḥ, the phrase 'prakṛtim gataḥ' (gone to one's nature) is one of the chapter's most quiet and important: returning to one's prakṛti is what bhakti does.
When Arjuna thus saw Kṛṣṇa in His original form, he said: O Janārdana, seeing this humanlike form, so very beautiful, I am now composed in mind, and I am restored to my original nature.
Purport

Here the words mānuṣaṁ rūpam clearly indicate the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be originally two-handed. Those who deride Kṛṣṇa as if He were an ordinary person are shown here to be ignorant of His divine nature. If Kṛṣṇa is like an ordinary human being, then how is it possible for Him to show the universal form and again to show the four-handed Nārāyaṇa form? So it is very clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā that one who thinks that Kṛṣṇa is an ordinary person and who misguides the reader by claiming that it is the impersonal Brahman within Kṛṣṇa speaking is doing the greatest injustice. Kṛṣṇa has actually shown His universal form and His four-handed Viṣṇu form. So how can He be an ordinary human being? A pure devotee is not confused by misguiding commentaries on Bhagavad-gītā because he knows what is what. The original verses of Bhagavad-gītā are as clear as the sun; they do not require lamplight from foolish commentators.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
51. Arjuna said: O Janārdana, seeing this pleasant human form of Yours, I have regained my consciousness and have gained composure.
Commentary

Then Arjuna, seeing the very sweet form of Kṛṣṇa, bathing in an ocean of bliss, spoke. “O Janārdana, now I have regained my consciousness (sa-cetāḥ saṁvṛttaḥ), and have gained composure (prakṛtiṁ gataḥ).”

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
51. Arjuna said: O Janārdana, seeing Your pleasant human form, I have regained my consciousness and have gained composure.
Commentary

Becoming peaceful and pleased, Arjuna spoke. O Janārdana, seeing Your attractive (saumyam) four-armed form, I have now become happy in mind (sa cetaḥ): I have attained (saṁvṛttaḥ) a healthy state without fear (prakṛtim). What type of form is this? It is a human form. But Kṛṣṇa is also a form of knowledge and bliss, as will be shown by later quotations from the śṛutis and smṛtis (in verse 54 commentary). Among the Yadu family and among the Pāṇḍavas, He sometimes appears with two arms and sometimes with four arms. In these two forms He is called human because of the human-like form and human-like activities. His designation as “human” has been previously discussed.

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

Arjuna is pacified – Arjuna’s mind is pacified and restored on seeing Krishna’s two-handed form

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
11.51 O Janardana, drstva, having seen; idam, this; saumyam, serene; manusam, human; rupam, form; tava, of Yours-gracious, as of my friend; asmi, I have; idanim, now; samvrttah, become;-what?-sacetah, calm in mind; and gatah, restored; prakrtim, to my own nature.
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
11.51 Arjuna said Having beheld this pleasing and unie form of Yours, human in configuration, endowed with grace, tenderness, beauty etc., the excellence of which is infinite, I have now become composed, and I am restored to my normal nature.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
11.51 Drstva etc. At the end of the act of withdrawing all, the Brahman assumes the highly tranil stage of the tattva. Hence at the stage of withdrawl, gentleness is in the Bhagavat.
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
11.51 Arjuna said Having seen this Thy gentle human form, O Krishna, now I am composed and am restored to my own nature.
Commentary

11.51 दृष्ट्वा having seen? इदम् this? मानुषम् human? रूपम् form? तव Thy? सौम्यम् gentle? जनार्दन O Krishna? इदानीम् now? अस्मि (I) am? संवृत्तः composed? सचेताः with mind? प्रकृतिम् to nature? गतः restored.Commentary Arjuna says to Lord Krishna O Lord? I now behold Thy human form. Now my thoughts are collected and I am serene. I can speak. My senses perform their proper functions. My fear has vanished. Thou hast treated me as a mother would treat her erring child whom she embraces and nurses. Just as the calf rejoices when it beholds its mother who was missing for some days? so also I rejoice now when I behold Thy gentle form. I have drunk the nectar. Now I am alive.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
11.51 Arjuna said O Janardana, having seen this serene human form of Yours, I have now become calm in mind and restored to my own nature.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
11.51 Arjuna said: Seeing Thee in Thy gentle human form, my Lord, I am myself again, calm once more.
Related values & verses
Related values
Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)
Related verses
BG 11.50 BG 4.9 BG 18.73 SB 10.9.13 SB 10.3.46 SB 1.9.39 CC Madhya 21.119 CC Ādi 4.15 CC Madhya 21.101 Īśa Upaniṣad 16 Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 4.16
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Arjuna says: seeing Your gentle human form, my mind is composed; I am again in my normal nature.
Practical Applications
  • Honor the return to normalcy after spiritual encounter.
  • Don't deny the integration phase.
  • Use the human form as the steady anchor.
Reflection Questions
  • When have I returned to 'normal' after spiritual encounter?
  • What integration was needed?
Analogy

A child, after a long nightmare, opens his eyes and sees his mother's face by the bedside, and at once the world returns to its measured size. Arjuna sees Kṛṣṇa's mānuṣa-rūpa and is restored to prakṛti — his proper nature.

Stories
The Devotees' Preference for the Two-Armed Form

Throughout the Gauḍīya hagiographies — Caitanya-caritāmṛta especially (Madhya 9, 21) — Lord Caitanya emphasised that the two-armed form of Kṛṣṇa with flute, the mādhurya-vigraha, is the highest object of love for the devotee. The four-armed Viṣṇu evokes reverence; the two-armed Kṛṣṇa evokes intimacy.

Arjuna's relief in 11.51 — sa-cetāḥ prakṛtiṁ gataḥ — restored to his own nature on seeing the mānuṣa form — is the very preference the Bhakti-tradition will systematise. The two-armed Kṛṣṇa is the form in which the soul can stand.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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