Job 40
English Standard Version
40 And the Lord said to Job:
2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
Job Promises Silence
3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
4 “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further.”
The Lord Challenges Job
6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
7 “Dress for action[a] like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
9 Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.
12 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and tread down the wicked where they stand.
13 Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.[b]
14 Then will I also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15 “Behold, Behemoth,[c]
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
19 “He is the first of the works[d] of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
20 For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24 Can one take him by his eyes,[e]
or pierce his nose with a snare?
Job 41
English Standard Version
41 [a] “Can you draw out Leviathan[b] with a fishhook
or press down his tongue with a cord?
2 Can you put a rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak to you soft words?
4 Will he make a covenant with you
to take him for your servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay your hands on him;
remember the battle—you will not do it again!
9 [c] Behold, the hope of a man is false;
he is laid low even at the sight of him.
10 No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
Who then is he who can stand before me?
11 Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who would come near him with a bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
15 His back is made of[d] rows of shields,
shut up closely as with a seal.
16 One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezings flash forth light,
and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19 Out of his mouth go flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap forth.
20 Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 His breath kindles coals,
and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck abides strength,
and terror dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh stick together,
firmly cast on him and immovable.
24 His heart is hard as a stone,
hard as the lower millstone.
25 When he raises himself up, the mighty[e] are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26 Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,
nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee;
for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.
29 Clubs are counted as stubble;
he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30 His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 He makes the deep boil like a pot;
he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Behind him he leaves a shining wake;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 On earth there is not his like,
a creature without fear.
34 He sees everything that is high;
he is king over all the sons of pride.”
TEXT 5
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
paśya me pārtha rūpāṇi
śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ
nānā-vidhāni divyāni
nānā-varṇākṛtīni ca
SYNONYMS
śrī bhagavān uvāca—the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; paśya—just see; me—Mine; pārtha—O son of Pṛthā; rūpāṇi—forms; śataśaḥ—hundreds; atha—also; sahasraśaḥ—thousands; nānā-vidhāni—variegated; divyāni—divine; nānā—variegated; varṇa—colored; akṛtīni—forms; ca—also.
TRANSLATION
The Blessed Lord said: My dear Arjuna, O son of Pṛthā, behold now My opulences, hundreds of thousands of varied divine forms, multicolored like the sea.
PURPORT
Arjuna wanted to see Kṛṣṇa in His universal form, which, although a transcendental form, is just manifested for the cosmic manifestation and is therefore subject to the temporary time of this material nature. As the material nature is manifested and not manifested, similarly this universal form of Kṛṣṇa is manifested and unmanifested. It is not eternally situated in the spiritual sky like Kṛṣṇa's other forms. As far as a devotee is concerned, he is not eager to see the universal form, but because Arjuna wanted to see Kṛṣṇa in this way, Kṛṣṇa reveals this form. This universal form is not possible to be seen by any ordinary man. Kṛṣṇa must give one the power to see it.
TEXT 6
paśyādityān vasūn rudrān
aśvinau marutas tathā
bahūny adṛṣṭa-pūrvāṇi
paśyāścaryāṇi bhārata
SYNONYMS
paśya—see; ādityān—the twelve sons of Aditi; vasūn—the eight Vasus; rudrān—the eleven forms of Rudra; aśvinau—the two Asvins; marutaḥ—the forty-nine Maruts (demigods of the wind); tathā—also; bahūni—many; adṛṣṭa—that you have not heard or seen; pūrvāṇi—before; paśya—there see; āścaryāṇi—all the wonderful; bhārata—O best of the Bhāratas.
TRANSLATION
O best of the Bhāratas, see here the different manifestations of Ādityas, Rudras, and all the demigods. Behold the many things which no one has ever seen or heard before.
PURPORT
Even though Arjuna was a personal friend of Kṛṣṇa and the most advanced of learned men, it was still not possible for him to know everything about Kṛṣṇa. Here it is stated that humans have neither heard nor known of all these forms and manifestations. Now Kṛṣṇa reveals these wonderful forms.
TEXT 7
ihaika-sthaṁ jagat kṛtsnaṁ
paśyādya sa-carācaram
mama dehe guḍākeśa
yac cānyad draṣṭum icchasi
SYNONYMS
iha—in this; ekastham—in one; jagat—the universe; kṛtsnam—completely; paśya—see; adya—immediately; sa—with; cara—moving; acaram—not moving; mama—My; dehe—in this body; guḍākeśa—O Arjuna; yat—that; ca—also; anyat—other; draṣṭum—to see; icchasi—you like.
TRANSLATION
Whatever you wish to see can be seen all at once in this body. This universal form can show you all that you now desire, as well as whatever you may desire in the future. Everything is here completely.
PURPORT
No one can see the entire universe sitting in one place. Even the most advanced scientist cannot see what is going on in other parts of the universe. Kṛṣṇa gives him the power to see anything he wants to see, past, present and future. Thus by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna is able to see everything.
TEXT 8
na tu māṁ śakyase draṣṭum
anenaiva sva-cakṣuṣā
divyaṁ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ
paśya me yogam aiśvaram
SYNONYMS
na—never; tu—but; mām—Me; śakyase—able; draṣṭum—to see; anena—by this; eva—certainly; sva-cakṣuṣā—with your own eyes; divyam—divine; dadāmi—I give; te—you; cakṣuḥ—eyes; paśya—see; me—My; yogam aiśvaram—inconceivable mystic power.
TRANSLATION
But you cannot see Me with your present eyes. Therefore I give to you divine eyes by which you can behold My mystic opulence.
PURPORT
A pure devotee does not like to see Kṛṣṇa in any form except His form with two hands; a devotee must see His universal form by His grace, not with the mind but with spiritual eyes. To see the universal form of Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna is told not to change his mind but his vision. The universal form of Kṛṣṇa is not very important; that will be clear in the verses. Yet because Arjuna wanted to see it, the Lord gives him the particular vision required to see that universal form.
Devotees who are correctly situated in a transcendental relationship with Kṛṣṇa are attracted by loving features, not by a godless display of opulences. The playmates of Kṛṣṇa, the friends of Kṛṣṇa and the parents of Kṛṣṇa never want Kṛṣṇa to show His opulences. They are so immersed in pure love that they do not even know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In their loving exchange they forget that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that the boys who play with Kṛṣṇa are all highly pious souls, and after many, many births they are able to play with Kṛṣṇa. Such boys do not know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They take Him as a personal friend. The Supreme Person is considered as the impersonal Brahman by great sages, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the devotees, and as a product of this material nature by ordinary men. The fact is that the devotee is not concerned to see the viśva-rūpa, the universal form, but Arjuna wanted to see it to substantiate Kṛṣṇa's statement so that in the future people could understand that Kṛṣṇa not only theoretically or philosophically presented Himself as the Supreme but actually presented Himself as such to Arjuna. Arjuna must confirm this because Arjuna is the beginning of the paramparā system. Those who are actually interested to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and who follow in the footsteps of Arjuna should understand that Kṛṣṇa not only theoretically presented Himself as the Supreme, but actually revealed Himself as the Supreme.
The Lord gave Arjuna the necessary power to see His universal form because He knew that Arjuna did not particularly want to see it, as we have already explained.
TEXT 9
sañjaya uvāca
evam uktvā tato rājan
mahā-yogeśvaro hariḥ
darśayām āsa pārthāya
paramaṁ rūpam aiśvaram
SYNONYMS
sañjayaḥ uvāca—Sanjaya said; evam—thus; uktvā—saying; tataḥ—thereafter; rājan—O King; mahā-yogeśvaraḥ—the most powerful mystic; hariḥ—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa; darśayāmāsa—showed; pārthāya—unto Arjuna; paramam—divine; rūpam—universal form; aiśvaram—opulences.
TRANSLATION
Sañjaya said: O King, speaking thus, the Supreme, the Lord of all mystic power, the Personality of Godhead, displayed His universal form to Arjuna.
TEXTS 10-11
aneka-vaktra-nayanam
anekādbhuta-darśanam
aneka-divyābharaṇaṁ
divyānekodyatāyudham
divya-mālyāmbara-dharaṁ
divya-gandhānulepanam
sarvāścarya-mayaṁ devam
anantaṁ viśvato-mukham
SYNONYMS
aneka—various; vaktra—mouths; nayanam—eyes; aneka—various; adbhuta—wonderful; darśanam—sight; aneka—many; divya—divine; ābharaṇam—ornaments; divya—divine; aneka—various; udyata—uplifted; āyudham— weapons; divya—divine; mālya—garlands; ambara-dharam—covered with the dresses; divya—divine; gandha—fragrance; anulepanam—smeared; sarva—all; aścaryamayam—wonderful; devam—shining; anantam—unlimited; viśvataḥ-mukham—all-pervading.
TRANSLATION
Arjuna saw in that universal form unlimited mouths and unlimited eyes. It was all wondrous. The form was decorated with divine, dazzling ornaments and arrayed in many garbs. He was garlanded gloriously, and there were many scents smeared over His body. All was magnificent, all-expanding, unlimited. This was seen by Arjuna.
PURPORT
These two verses indicate that there is no limit to the hands, mouths, legs, etc., of the Lord. These manifestations are distributed throughout the universe and are unlimited. By the grace of the Lord, Arjuna could see them while sitting in one place. That is due to the inconceivable potency of Kṛṣṇa.
TEXT 12
divi sūrya-sahasrasya
bhaved yugapad utthitā
yadi bhāḥ sadṛśī sā syād
bhāsas tasya mahātmanaḥ
SYNONYMS
divi—in the sky; sūrya—sun; sahasrasya—of many thousands; bhavet—there were; yugapat—simultaneously; utthitā—present; yadi—if; bhāḥ—light; sadṛśī—like that; sā—that; syāt—may be; bhāsaḥ—effulgence; tasya—there is; mahātmanaḥ—of the great Lord.
TRANSLATION
If hundreds of thousands of suns rose up at once into the sky, they might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form.
PURPORT
What Arjuna saw was indescribable, yet Sañjaya is trying to give a mental picture of that great revelation to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Neither Sañjaya nor Dhṛtarāṣṭra were present, but Sañjaya, by the grace of Vyāsa, could see whatever happened. Thus he now compares the situation, as far as it can be understood, to an imaginable phenomenon (i.e. thousands of suns).
TEXT 13
tatraika-sthaṁ jagat kṛtsnaṁ
pravibhaktam anekadhā
apaśyad deva-devasya
śarīre pāṇḍavas tadā
SYNONYMS
tatra—there; ekastham—one place; jagat—universe; kṛtsnam—completely; pravibhaktam—divided in; anekadhā—many kinds; apaśyat—could see; deva-devasya—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; śarīre—in the universal form; pāṇḍavaḥ—Arjuna; tadā—at that time.
TRANSLATION
At that time Arjuna could see in the universal form of the Lord the unlimited expansions of the universe situated in one place although divided into many, many thousands.
PURPORT
The word tatra (there) is very significant. It indicates that both Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa were sitting on the chariot when Arjuna saw the universal form. Others on the battlefield could not see this form because Kṛṣṇa gave the vision only to Arjuna. Arjuna could see in the body of Kṛṣṇa many thousands of universes. As we learn from Vedic scriptures, there are many universes and many planets. Some of them are made of earth, some are made of gold, some are made of jewels, some are very great, some are not so great, etc. Sitting on his chariot, Arjuna could see all these universes. But no one could understand what was going on between Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa.
TEXT 14
tataḥ sa vismayāviṣṭo
hṛṣṭa-romā dhanañjayaḥ
praṇamya śirasā devaṁ
kṛtāñjalir abhāṣata
SYNONYMS
tataḥ—thereafter; saḥ—he; vismayāviṣṭaḥ—being overwhelmed with wonder; hṛṣṭa-romā—with his bodily hairs standing on end due to his great ecstasy; dhanañjayaḥ—Arjuna ; praṇamya—offering obeisances; śirasā—with the head; devam—to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; kṛtāñjaliḥ—with folded hands; abhāṣata—began to say.
TRANSLATION
Then, bewildered and astonished, his hair standing on end, Arjuna began to pray with folded hands, offering obeisances to the Supreme Lord.
PURPORT
Once the divine vision is revealed, the relationship between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna changes immediately. Before, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna had a relationship based on friendship, but here, after the revelation, Arjuna is offering obeisances with great respect, and with folded hands he is praying to Kṛṣṇa. He is praising the universal form. Thus Arjuna's relationship becomes one of wonder rather than friendship. Great devotees see Kṛṣṇa as the reservoir of all relationships. In the scriptures there are twelve basic kinds of relationships mentioned, and all of them are present in Kṛṣṇa. It is said that He is the ocean of all the relationships exchanged between two living entities, between the gods, or between the Supreme Lord and His devotees.
It is said that Arjuna was inspired by the relationship of wonder, and in that wonder, although he was by nature very sober, calm and quiet, he became ecstatic, his hair stood up, and he began to offer his obeisances unto the Supreme Lord with folded hands. He was not, of course, afraid. He was affected by the wonders of the Supreme Lord. The immediate context is wonder; his natural loving friendship was overwhelmed by wonder, and thus he reacted in this way.
TEXT 15
arjuna uvāca
paśyāmi devāṁs tava deva dehe
sarvāṁs tathā bhūta-viśeṣa-saṅghān
brahmāṇam īśaṁ kamalāsana-stham
ṛṣīṁś ca sarvān uragāṁś ca divyān
SYNONYMS
arjunaḥ uvāca—Arjuna said; paśyāmi—I see; devān—all the demigods; tava—Your; deva—O Lord; dehe—in the body; sarvān—all; tathā—also; bhūta—living entities; viśeṣa-saṅghān—specifically assembled; brahmāṇam—Lord Brahmā; īśam—Lord Śiva; kamala-āsana-stham—sitting on the lotus flower; ṛṣīn—great sages; ca—also; sarvān—all; uragān—serpents; ca—also; divyān—divine.
TRANSLATION
Arjuna said: My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, I see assembled together in Your body all the demigods and various other living entities. I see Brahmā sitting on the lotus flower as well as Lord Śiva and many sages and divine serpents.
PURPORT
Arjuna sees everything in the universe; therefore he sees Brahmā, who is the first creature in the universe, and the celestial serpent upon which the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu lies in the lower regions of the universe. This snake bed is called Vāsuki. There are also other snakes known as Vāsuki. Arjuna can see from the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu up to the topmost part of the universe on the lotus-flower planet where Brahmā, the first creature of the universe, resides. That means that from the beginning to the end, everything could be seen by Arjuna sitting in one place on his chariot. This was possible by the grace of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa.
TEXT 16
aneka-bāhūdara-vaktra-netraṁ
paśyāmi tvāṁ sarvato 'nanta-rūpam
nāntaṁ na madhyaṁ na punas tavādiṁ
paśyāmi viśveśvara viśva-rūpa
SYNONYMS
aneka—many; bāhū—arms; udara—bellies; vaktra—mouths; netram—eyes; paśyāmi—I see; tvām—unto You; sarvataḥ—from all sides; ananta-rūpam—unlimited form; na antam—there is no end; na madhyam—there is no middle; na punaḥ—nor again; tava—Your; ādim—beginning; paśyāmi—I see; viśveśvara—O Lord of the universe; viṣva-rūpa—in the form of the universe.
TRANSLATION
O Lord of the universe, I see in Your universal body many, many forms-bellies, mouths, eyes-expanded without limit. There is no end, there is no beginning, and there is no middle to all this.
PURPORT
Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is unlimited; thus through Him everything could be seen.
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