Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 27

English Translation

They rapidly enter into Your terrible mouths with cruel teeths! Some are seen sticking in the gaps between the teeth, with their heads crushed!

Detailed Commentary

11.27. Elucidation: 'Bhīṣmo Droṇaḥ Sūtaputrastathāsau sahāsmadīyairapi yodhamukhyaiḥ' -- Our side's principal warriors like Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Virāṭa, and Drupada are all on the side of *Dharma* and have come to fight for their duty. Along with our generals, Grandsire Bhīṣma, Āchārya Droṇa, and that renowned Sūtaputra Karṇa are entering into You. The mention of Bhīṣma, Droṇa, and Karṇa here signifies that all three had come to fulfill their *Dharma* (duty) in battle. 'Amī cha tvāṁ Dhṛtarāṣṭrasya putrāḥ sarve sahaivāvanipālasaṅghaiḥ' -- All the kings on Duryodhana's side, who wish to support Duryodhana in war, along with Dhṛtarāṣṭra's hundred sons such as Duryodhana and Duśśāsana, are rapidly entering Your mouths -- 'Vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā viśanti daṁṣṭrākarālāni bhayānakāni'. In the *Virāṭ Rūpa*, whether they enter into Bhagavān or into Bhagavān's mouths, it is but one *Līlā*. However, according to their dispositions (*bhāvas*), their destinies appear distinct. Therefore, whether they enter into Bhagavān or into the mouths, they are indeed within the *Virāṭ Rūpa*. 'Kechidvilagnā daśanāntareṣu saṁdṛśyante chūrṇitairuttamāṅgaiḥ' -- Just as some food items go straight into the stomach when chewed, while others get stuck between the teeth and molars. Similarly, among those entering Your mouths, some pass straight within, while others, with pulverized heads, are seen trapped between Your teeth and molars. Here, a doubt arises: the warriors are still standing on the battlefield, so how could Arjuna see them entering the mouths of the *Virāṭ Rūpa*? The resolution to this is that Bhagavān, in the *Virāṭ Rūpa*, is showing Arjuna the impending future. When revealing the *Virāṭ Rūpa*, Bhagavān had told Arjuna to behold anything else he wished to see within this Cosmic Form. Arjuna had a doubt in his mind whether their side would win the war or the Kauravas'. Therefore, to dispel that doubt, Bhagavān shows Arjuna the vision of the future, that victory would indeed be theirs. Connection -- Arjuna, in the subsequent *śloka*, uses the analogy of rivers entering the ocean to describe the entrance into the *Virāṭ Rūpa* of those who have come to war understanding their *Dharma* (duty) and those who seek the attainment of the Supreme Being.