In the Bhagavad-gita’s eleventh chapter, Krishna states twice that his revelation of the universal form is unprecedented (11.06: adrishta-purvani, 11.47: na drishta-purvam). Arjuna too confirms this (11.45: adrishta-purvam).

These repeated assertions raise a question: when Krishna had shown the universal form earlier, why is this revelation considered unprecedented? To answer , let’s consider the previous revelations. 

In his childhood, Krishna had shown the universal form to his mother Yashoda. And a few weeks before the Kurukshetra war, he had shown it to Duryodhana. Though both these revelations are called the universal form, they were slightly different. To his mother, Krishna had shown how the entire universe was contained in his mouth. To Duryodhana, he had shown the size and might of the form that the Kuru prince had foolishly tried to arrest: in that form were the mighty devatas who were cosmic guardians — with the five Pandavas among their ranks. This revelation was meant to send a strong deterrent message to Duryodhana, who unfortunately was too obstinate to learn. 

Among these two revelations, the revelation to Duryodhana was closer to what was shown to Arjuna. Still, Arjuna was shown something extra: the kala-rupa, the form of destructive time. This bonus revelation provided Arjuna a sneak peek at the future; he could see that the warriors assembled on the Kurukshetra battlefield were all destined to die due to their own past misdeeds. The underlying message was that Arjuna couldn’t change their destiny by abstaining from fighting; better that he do his duty and get the credit for being a worthy instrument of the divine will (11.33). Because Arjuna, unlike Duryodhana, was ready to learn, Krishna’s revelation to him had the intended effect (18.73). 

One-sentence summary:

Krishna’s revelation of the universal form to Arjuna was unprecedented because Krishna’s previous revelations hadn’t included his kala-rupa. 

Think it over:

  • How does the Gita convey the unprecedented nature of its revelation of the universal form?
  • How was the revelation to Arjuna different from previous revelations?
  • Why was Arjuna offered this unprecedented revelation? 

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11.47: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, happily have I shown you, by My internal potency, this supreme universal form within the material world. No one before you has ever seen this primal form, unlimited and full of glaring effulgence.

 

To know more about this verse, please click on the image