Only the Lord can tell the Lord's own glories, and Arjuna asks for them all.
Arjuna asks for the whole of it: the divine glories of the Self, declared leaving nothing out, the very glories by which Krishna pervades these worlds and stands in them. No god or sage can reach that knowledge, so the request quietly binds the one knower there is to say of himself what no other could say.
Tell me in full of your own divine manifestations, through which you exist, pervading these worlds.
Krishna has already promised that one who truly knows his glories and his yoga comes to unshakable devotion; here Arjuna's praise turns to petition, and his asking calls forth the roll of glories that fills the rest of the chapter.
Where they agreethe convergence
Across schools and centuries the commentators come to the same ground. These are the points they share, and the voices that hold each one.
Arjuna asks for everything: not a sample of the divine glories, but the whole of them, told without remainder, leaving nothing out.
Across Advaita, Dvaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, and the modern voicesŚaṅkara · Ānandagiri · Madhva · Jayatīrtha · Vedānta Deśika · Tilak · RamsukhdasIn Śaṅkara, Ānandagiri, and 5 others’ words
Arjuna asks Krishna to tell, in full and leaving nothing out, the divine glories of the Self. The key Sanskrit word is vibhuti, which the commentators take to mean a glory, a manifestation, a power of being, an expanse of greatness. The word asheshena means 'without remainder,' that is, completely and exhaustively. So Arjuna is not asking for a sample or a few examples; he is asking Krishna to lay out the whole range of these glories. Shankara reads the verse as 'You are fit to relate, without remainder' these glories which are the Self's. Anandagiri says the powers should be stated 'without remainder' by Krishna alone, and Madhva and Jayatirtha gloss vibhuti plainly as Krishna's manifold powers of being, his lordly powers of various forms.
These glories are divya, beyond the common run of things; the specialness that shines anywhere in the world is at root his, not the world's.
Across Advaita, Bhakti, Śuddhādvaita, and the modern voicesĀnandagiri · Śrīdhara · Puruṣottama · RamsukhdasIn Ānandagiri, Śrīdhara, and 2 others’ words
These glories are called divya, divine, which the commentators explain as non-ordinary, more-than-marvellous, beyond what is common in the world. Anandagiri says divineness simply means non-ordinariness. Sridhara calls the vibhutis 'more-than-marvellous.' Purushottama hears in divya the sense of 'play-form,' a form taken up freely. Ramsukhdas draws out the practical meaning: to call the vibhutis divya is to say that whatever specialness appears anywhere in the world is at root the divine Paramatma's, not the world's own; to see that specialness in the world is bhoga (enjoyment, grasping), while to see it in the Supreme is vibhuti, is yoga.
No god or sage can reach these glories; they are the Lord's own, so only the Lord can say of himself what no one else could.
Across Advaita, Śuddhādvaita, Bhakti, and the modern voicesMadhusūdana · Vallabha · Śrīdhara · Puruṣottama · Ānandagiri · RamsukhdasIn Madhusūdana, Vallabha, and 4 others’ words
The reason only Krishna is fit to tell them is that no one else can know them. The gods, the sages, the rest of beings cannot reach this knowledge, because the glories belong to Krishna's own self and lie beyond the range of ordinary knowers. Madhusudana argues this tightly: the glories cannot be known by the non-omniscient, so since Krishna alone is all-knowing, he alone can declare them whole. Vallabha and Sridhara give the same reasoning: since the gods and the rest do not know, it falls to Krishna to speak. Purushottama presses it further, saying that even the knowledge of the vibhuti is not available to another. This is why the verse is, in part, a quiet binding of the Lord to his own gift: since only the Lord can speak of the Lord, Arjuna asks him to say of himself what no rishi could say.
And these glories are no ornaments set apart; they are the very means by which he fills these worlds and stays present in them.
Across Advaita, Bhakti, Viśiṣṭādvaita, and the modern voicesDhanapati · Jñāneśvar · Tilak · Śaṅkara · Vedānta Deśika · RāmānujaIn Dhanapati, Jñāneśvar, and 4 others’ words
The second line fixes what these glories do: they are the vibhutis by which Krishna pervades and stands in all these worlds. The verb vyapya tishthasi means 'You abide, having pervaded.' So the glories are not separate ornaments; they are the very means by which the Lord fills and holds the worlds and remains present in them. Dhanapati says it is by these that Krishna stands pervading the worlds. Jnaneshwari renders it as the forms through which Krishna permeates all the worlds and remains over and beyond them. Tilak reads it the same way: the manifestations by which Krishna has pervaded all these spheres.
This is the shared ground; it can be carried as it is. Below is where they differ.
Where they differthe divergence
Viśiṣṭādvaita, in their fuller words
These commentators read the vibhutis as the cosmic field through which the Lord governs and holds the worlds together, with Krishna as their indweller and ruler. Ramanuja stresses that the glories are 'particular governings' by which the Lord stands pervading the worlds as their governor, and that Krishna alone not only tells them but makes them manifest. Vedantadeshika develops this into a teaching about contemplation: the worlds are the field of the Lord's manifest pervasion, so the seeker who contemplates the vibhutis is contemplating the very field by which the Lord holds the worlds together. On this reading the coming list of glories is not arbitrary; it is the deliberate exhibition of the cosmic-ground itself.
Śuddhādvaita, in their fuller words
These commentators insist that Arjuna's request is precisely for the asadharanya, the non-common quality, the sva-amsa or 'own-portion-becomings' by which the Lord stands as the excellence in everything, and not for the general cosmic field that any jnani (knower) could map out. Vallabha marks this distinction explicitly: the particular regulations asked about are of the form of the Lord's own portion-becomings, taken as guna-natured and as his self-natured. Purushottama frames the whole request as a movement toward grace and refuge: having seen Krishna's lordship, Arjuna asks him, out of grace and because Arjuna is his own, to show his form so that Arjuna may take refuge in him; the vibhutis are portion-forms the Lord takes up of his own accord for the sake of his devotee's work.
Bhakti, in their fuller words
These commentators read the verse through the limits of the seeker's reach. Krishna's true essential nature, his svarupa, is hard to attain directly; therefore the desire to know arises in Arjuna only with regard to the manifestations, the vibhutis. Vishvanatha says the wish to know arises only toward the manifestations, and that the seeming impossibility of telling all of them without remainder is exactly what the second line ('by which') answers. Baladeva adds the grammatical note that the first case is used in the sense of the second, and reads the glories as 'peculiar to your Self,' the ones by which Krishna stands pervading and governing the worlds. The accent here is devotional: the seeker approaches the unreachable through the knowable glories.
A modern reading, in their fuller words
Ramsukhdas connects the request directly to Krishna's earlier promise (in the seventh verse of this chapter) that one who truly knows the Lord's vibhutis and his yoga reaches unshakable bhakti-yoga. On hearing this, the thought arose in Arjuna that knowing the vibhutis is a very easy and most excellent means to firm devotion, because by truly knowing the glories and the yoga the mind is drawn of itself toward the Lord and bhakti awakens of itself. So Arjuna's request is read as the seeking of his own welfare: he asks for the full account of the vibhutis so that he too may know them all and thereby attain firm bhakti-yoga.
A few questions to carry
These ask for understanding, not recall; each answer is settled by the commentary itself.
For a second sitting
Carry this with youwhat stays
Ramsukhdas turns this verse into a quiet discipline of seeing. To call the glories divya, divine, is to recognize that whatever specialness you notice anywhere in the world is at its root not the world's but the Supreme's. So when you meet anything radiant, capable, or beautiful, you have a choice. You can take that specialness as the world's own and reach for it; that grasping is bhoga. Or you can trace the specialness home to its source, the divine Paramatma; that recognition is vibhuti, is yoga. Practiced steadily, this is the easy and excellent means Arjuna himself saw: by truly knowing the glories as the Lord's, the mind is drawn of itself toward him, and devotion awakens of itself, with no force required.
A mind that traces each bright thing home to its source is already being drawn toward the Lord; devotion wakes there of itself, with no force required.
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Convergence
rjuna asks Krishna to tell, in full and leaving nothing out, the divine glories of the Self. The key Sanskrit word is vibhuti, which the commentators take to mean a glory, a manifestation, a power of being, an expanse of greatness. The word asheshena means 'without remainder,' that is, completely and exhaustively. So Arjuna is not asking for a sample or a few examples; he is asking Krishna to lay out the whole range of these glories. Shankara reads the verse as 'You are fit to relate, without remainder' these glories which are the Self's. Anandagiri says the powers should be stated 'without remainder' by Krishna alone, and Madhva and Jayatirtha gloss vibhuti plainly as Krishna's manifold powers of being, his lordly powers of various forms.
Braided from 7 commentators
Śaṅkarācārya · Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhvācārya · Śrī Jayatīrtha · Vedānta Deśika · Lokmanya Tilak · Swami Ramsukhdas
These glories are called divya, divine, which the commentators explain as non-ordinary, more-than-marvellous, beyond what is common in the world. Anandagiri says divineness simply means non-ordinariness. Sridhara calls the vibhutis 'more-than-marvellous.' Purushottama hears in divya the sense of 'play-form,' a form taken up freely. Ramsukhdas draws out the practical meaning: to call the vibhutis divya is to say that whatever specialness appears anywhere in the world is at root the divine Paramatma's, not the world's own; to see that specialness in the world is bhoga (enjoyment, grasping), while to see it in the Supreme is vibhuti, is yoga.
Śrī Ānandagiri · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Śrī Puruṣottama · Swami Ramsukhdas
The reason only Krishna is fit to tell them is that no one else can know them. The gods, the sages, the rest of beings cannot reach this knowledge, because the glories belong to Krishna's own self and lie beyond the range of ordinary knowers. Madhusudana argues this tightly: the glories cannot be known by the non-omniscient, so since Krishna alone is all-knowing, he alone can declare them whole. Vallabha and Sridhara give the same reasoning: since the gods and the rest do not know, it falls to Krishna to speak. Purushottama presses it further, saying that even the knowledge of the vibhuti is not available to another. This is why the verse is, in part, a quiet binding of the Lord to his own gift: since only the Lord can speak of the Lord, Arjuna asks him to say of himself what no rishi could say.
Braided from 6 commentators
Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Vallabhācārya · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Śrī Puruṣottama · Śrī Ānandagiri · Swami Ramsukhdas
The second line fixes what these glories do: they are the vibhutis by which Krishna pervades and stands in all these worlds. The verb vyapya tishthasi means 'You abide, having pervaded.' So the glories are not separate ornaments; they are the very means by which the Lord fills and holds the worlds and remains present in them. Dhanapati says it is by these that Krishna stands pervading the worlds. Jnaneshwari renders it as the forms through which Krishna permeates all the worlds and remains over and beyond them. Tilak reads it the same way: the manifestations by which Krishna has pervaded all these spheres.
Braided from 6 commentators
Dhanapati Sūri · Sant Jñāneśvar · Lokmanya Tilak · Śaṅkarācārya · Vedānta Deśika · Rāmānujācārya
Divergence
Viśiṣṭādvaita
These commentators read the vibhutis as the cosmic field through which the Lord governs and holds the worlds together, with Krishna as their indweller and ruler. Ramanuja stresses that the glories are 'particular governings' by which the Lord stands pervading the worlds as their governor, and that Krishna alone not only tells them but makes them manifest. Vedantadeshika develops this into a teaching about contemplation: the worlds are the field of the Lord's manifest pervasion, so the seeker who contemplates the vibhutis is contemplating the very field by which the Lord holds the worlds together. On this reading the coming list of glories is not arbitrary; it is the deliberate exhibition of the cosmic-ground itself.
Rāmānujācārya · Vedānta Deśika
Śuddhādvaita
These commentators insist that Arjuna's request is precisely for the asadharanya, the non-common quality, the sva-amsa or 'own-portion-becomings' by which the Lord stands as the excellence in everything, and not for the general cosmic field that any jnani (knower) could map out. Vallabha marks this distinction explicitly: the particular regulations asked about are of the form of the Lord's own portion-becomings, taken as guna-natured and as his self-natured. Purushottama frames the whole request as a movement toward grace and refuge: having seen Krishna's lordship, Arjuna asks him, out of grace and because Arjuna is his own, to show his form so that Arjuna may take refuge in him; the vibhutis are portion-forms the Lord takes up of his own accord for the sake of his devotee's work.
Vallabhācārya · Śrī Puruṣottama
Bhakti
These commentators read the verse through the limits of the seeker's reach. Krishna's true essential nature, his svarupa, is hard to attain directly; therefore the desire to know arises in Arjuna only with regard to the manifestations, the vibhutis. Vishvanatha says the wish to know arises only toward the manifestations, and that the seeming impossibility of telling all of them without remainder is exactly what the second line ('by which') answers. Baladeva adds the grammatical note that the first case is used in the sense of the second, and reads the glories as 'peculiar to your Self,' the ones by which Krishna stands pervading and governing the worlds. The accent here is devotional: the seeker approaches the unreachable through the knowable glories.
Śrīla Viśvanātha · Śrīla Baladeva
Modern
Ramsukhdas connects the request directly to Krishna's earlier promise (in the seventh verse of this chapter) that one who truly knows the Lord's vibhutis and his yoga reaches unshakable bhakti-yoga. On hearing this, the thought arose in Arjuna that knowing the vibhutis is a very easy and most excellent means to firm devotion, because by truly knowing the glories and the yoga the mind is drawn of itself toward the Lord and bhakti awakens of itself. So Arjuna's request is read as the seeking of his own welfare: he asks for the full account of the vibhutis so that he too may know them all and thereby attain firm bhakti-yoga.
Swami Ramsukhdas
A Seeker Asks
If even gods and sages cannot know these glories, what use is a list of them to an ordinary seeker who is not Krishna?
The point of the verse is not that the seeker must independently know the glories, which is why Arjuna asks Krishna to tell them: only the all-knowing Lord can know and declare his own glories, so the seeker receives them as a gift rather than discovering them alone. Madhusudana makes exactly this move, that the non-omniscient cannot know them but the all-knowing Lord can, and Sridhara reads the request as binding the Lord to say of himself what no rishi could say.
Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Śrī Puruṣottama
And the list has a clear use once it is given. The glories are precisely the means by which the Lord pervades and holds the worlds, so to contemplate them is to contemplate the very field through which he sustains everything; the seeker meets the unreachable Lord through the knowable manifestations.
Vedānta Deśika · Rāmānujācārya · Śrīla Viśvanātha
Practically, knowing the glories is offered as the easy path to steady devotion: by truly recognizing the specialness in things as the Lord's own, the mind is drawn toward him of itself and bhakti awakens, which is the welfare Arjuna is seeking in asking the question.
Swami Ramsukhdas
Contemplation
Ramsukhdas turns this verse into a quiet discipline of seeing. To call the glories divya, divine, is to recognize that whatever specialness you notice anywhere in the world is at its root not the world's but the Supreme's. So when you meet anything radiant, capable, or beautiful, you have a choice. You can take that specialness as the world's own and reach for it; that grasping is bhoga. Or you can trace the specialness home to its source, the divine Paramatma; that recognition is vibhuti, is yoga. Practiced steadily, this is the easy and excellent means Arjuna himself saw: by truly knowing the glories as the Lord's, the mind is drawn of itself toward him, and devotion awakens of itself, with no force required.
Sit with this · Swami Ramsukhdas
All the translations and commentary
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