542
Bhagavad-gītā  As It Is
[Ch. 11]
may think that Kṛṣṇa is an ordinary person, he desires to see Him actually in His universal form, to see how He is acting from within the universe, although He is apart from it. Arjuna’s asking the Lord’s permission is also significant. Since the Lord is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is present within Arjuna himself; therefore He knows the desire of Arjuna, and He can understand that Arjuna has no special desire to see Him in His universal form, for he is completely satisfied to see Him in His personal form of Kṛṣṇa. But He can understand also that Arjuna wants to see the universal form to convince others. He did not have any personal desire for confirmation. Kṛṣṇa also understands that Arjuna wants to see the universal form to set a criterion, for in the future there would be so many imposters who would pose themselves as incarnations of God. The people, therefore, should be careful; one who claims to be Kṛṣṇa should be prepared to show his universal form to confirm his claim to the people.
TEXT 4
मन्यसे यदि तच्छक्यं मया द्रष्टुमिति प्रभो । योगेश्वर ततो मे त्वं दर्शयात्मानमव्ययम् ॥ ४ ॥
manyase yadi tac chakyaṁ mayā draṣṭum iti prabho yogeśvara tato me tvaṁ darśayātmānam avyayam
manyase —if You think;  yadi —if;  tat —that;  śakyam —able to see;  mayā —by me;  draṣṭum —to see;  iti —thus;  prabho —O Lord;  yogeśvara —the Lord of all mystic power;  tataḥ —then;  me —unto me;  tvam —You;  darśaya —show;  ātmānam —Yourself;  avyayam —eternal.
TRANSLATION
If You think that I am able to behold Your cosmic form, O my Lord, O master of all mystic power, then kindly show me that universal self.
PURPORT
It is said that one can neither see, hear, understand nor perceive the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, by the material senses. But if one is engaged in