In the Bhagavad-gita’s eleventh chapter, the universal form is shown to be devouring the major warriors assembled on the battlefield. Why is the form so ghastly? Why is it considered divine? Is it meant to depict a form of divine cannibalism? Let’s address these questions one-by-one. 

The ghastliness of the universal form: The universal form depicts the complete reality of the universe. And this complete reality includes death. While the event of death can sometimes be peaceful, the fact of death itself is nonetheless harsh. The universal form offers an unvarnished vision of this reality, hence its ghastliness. 

The divinity of the universal form: No matter how powerful anyone might become, death eventually triumphs over everyone. Therefore, death is considered to be almighty or more specifically, a manifestation of the almighty reality: the supreme divinity. Just as the sight of the ghastly aspect of the universal form impels Arjuna to seek a vision of a more affectionate form of the Divine, an unflinching look at the unappealable finality of death can impel us to ponder higher realities, culminating in the supreme reality. 

The symbolism of the universal form: To equate the ghastliness of the universal form with cannibalism is to take literalism to such an extreme as to render a profound reality perverse. What is that profound reality? Depicting the inevitable end of the physical body as it succumbs to death. In the Vedic tradition, the dead body is cremated, with the sacred fire offering the soul a gateway to transition to another reality. For onlookers, cremation provides a graphic reminder of the irreversible temporality of the body and the brutal finality of death. The fire emanating from the mouth of the universal form that consumes the assembled warriors depicts such a cremation. 

One-sentence summary: 

The ghastly aspect of the universal form depicts the harsh reality of death, impels us to think of higher reality and replicates the cremation that consumes the physical body. 

Think it over:

  • Why is the universal form so ghastly?
  • Why is this ghastly vision considered divine?
  • What does this ghastly vision symbolize?

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11.30: O Vishnu, I see You devouring all people from all sides with Your flaming mouths. Covering all the universe with Your effulgence, You are manifest with terrible, scorching rays.

 Why is the universal form so ghastly?

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