Pashyami Devams Tava Deva

Arjuna begins to speak, and his first words are a catalogue of what he sees. "O Deva, in your body I see all the gods. I see hosts of every kind of being. I see Brahma seated on his lotus throne. I see all the great sages. I see the divine serpents." Each phrase adds another layer to the vision, like opening door after door in an endless palace.

The image of Brahma on his lotus is particularly vivid. In Hindu cosmology, Brahma — the creator — sits on a lotus that grows from Vishnu's navel. Now Arjuna sees even Brahma contained within Krishna's form. The creator himself is part of the creation held within the divine body.

This shloka shifts the Gita into the trishtup metre — longer lines, a more expansive rhythm. The metre itself reflects the content. Arjuna needs more syllables per line because what he is describing cannot fit into the compact anushthup that carried the earlier dialogue.

This begins Arjuna's stuti (hymn of praise), which runs from 11.15 through 11.31. The trishtup metre used here and in the following shlokas gives the passage a grander, more hymn-like quality compared to the earlier conversational shlokas.

The mention of Brahma, the sages, and the divine serpents (nagas) shows that Arjuna's vision includes every tier of the cosmic hierarchy — from the highest creator god to celestial serpents like Shesha and Vasuki.