Krishna's Vishwarupa (Divine Universal Form)

The birds were frozen in the air. The wind which would normally sway the hair away from the soldiers' heads was terrifyingly still. The millions of soldiers on the battlefield on each side were frozen in place, not a single movement in sight. All of the Pandava brothers were in a daze from Arjuna's decision to pause the war, yet they seemed to be frozen too. Arjuna at this time was kneeling right in front of Lord Krishna, where the only movements came from Arjuna and Lord Krishna himself.

"O Supreme form, O Lord of the Universe, although I see you here before me in your place, as you have described yourself, I wish to see how You have entered into this cosmic manifestation. I want to see that form of yours."

Arjuna pleaded with the Lord to shower him with his divine cosmic form. He realized that the knowledge that had been imparted to him throughout their cosmical conversation had resulted in only one ultimate truth: that Lord Krishna is the divine supreme manifestation and avatar of Lord Vishnu.

"Even gods struggle to be in a place to see the form I'm about to show you, Arjuna. I will bless you with divine sight so that you can see this significant, terrifying form of mine." As Lord Krishna looked at Arjuna receive the divine sight, Garuda came down to earth and covered both with his giant wings. This created an immense amount of space where only Krishna and Arjuna were visible. "Now see," Krishna said. "The whole universe, moving and unmoving, is gathered here within my body. See what you wish to see and acknowledge what you have observed with your divine eyes." The words were soft and gentle. What was to come was opposite.

It began with a flash of divine light, but calling it a light would be a disservice to the radiance the flash had. The power of the flashes felt like a thousand suns constantly detonating and exploding, their fire bursting and burning inwards. The radiance and power of the sun showed dimensions that have no description. The Kurukshetra battlefield got wiped away like an eraser taking colors from a whiteboard. Arjuna did not know where he was. At the edge of the chariot there was an indescribable nature of the universe that Arjuna did not understand. He did not know where he was anymore.

Krishna's form expanded beyond the horizon and into infinite directions, with his face multiplying by thousands and thousands of faces, reaching potentially infinite faces with infinitely unique yet indifferent identities and facial expressions. Each facial expression had a different quality of the divine. One face had Lord Shiva himself, another Lord Brahma, then Parashurama, and so on and so forth. There were faces of even the demons, and the faces of the three modes of nature: tamas (mode of darkness), rajas (mode of passion), and sattva (mode of purity). When Arjuna looked at his mouth open, he saw infinite universes laying at the entrance of his tongue and cosmic matter floating around his entire mouth. All of his thousands of eyes were each a universe looking at itself.

Arjuna trembled. The great Gandiva, which was given to him by the king of heavens Lord Indra, slipped from his fingers. His knees buckled. There have been moments in history when man has encountered extraordinary experiences, but none compare to what Arjuna was experiencing. His senses, his identity, his body, everything dissolved into nothingness. He saw with his soul a scenery which made him react with a wordless, terrified awe. This was the moment, being multiplied infinitely. He understood then that all that is happening is the process of time itself, and that Lord Krishna is Kala (Time).

"I AM TIME," the universal form declared, its voice reverberating through every aspect of existence. "The great destroyer of worlds, engaged here to destroy and annihilate. Even without you, all these warriors will eventually die."

Arjuna then pressed his palms together. There was no sound. Just a man reduced to his most raw self, bowing before the infinite divine supreme.

"No one has seen this universal form of mine. One cannot perceive me in this form by mere study of scriptures (Vedas), or by performance of sacrifices or charitable work, not even by accumulation of good deeds. It takes shuddha bhakti (pure devotion) to glimpse my true form."

Then, mercy happened. The most calm form of mercy. Krishna slowly drew closer to Arjuna from the air, and the thousand suns became just one. The cosmic scenery, form, and environment had gone back into Lord Krishna. The infinite eyes, the infinite heads, the cosmical universes laying within Lord Krishna's mouth, all had merged back into Lord Krishna.

"I am now going to relieve you of the fear that enveloped you on seeing this immense form of mine. Let my devotee be free from all agitation and overwhelm. Now with a peaceful mind, you can behold the form that you are conditioned to seeing."

And with that, Lord Krishna returned to his original form that he had been in throughout his earthly years.