Kṛṣṇa in His destructive form

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Kṛṣṇa showing His universal form to Arjuna is one of the most intriguing passages of the Bhagavad-gītā. We normally think of Kṛṣṇa as the beautiful Supreme Personality of Godhead, the enchanting youth who plays the flute and performs so many wonderful pastimes. In the Gītā, however, He shows an aspect so terrifying that even Arjuna, His intimate friend, became disturbed.

“Arjuna saw in that universal form unlimited mouths, unlimited eyes, unlimited wonderful visions. The form was decorated with many celestial ornaments and bore many divine upraised weapons. He wore celestial garlands and garments, and many divine scents were smeared over His body. All was wondrous, brilliant, unlimited, all-expanding. If hundreds of thousands of suns were to rise at once into the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form.”

Soon, he started offering prayers:

“O Lord of lords, O refuge of the worlds, please be gracious to me. I cannot keep my balance seeing thus Your blazing deathlike faces and awful teeth. In all directions I am bewildered. All the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, along with their allied kings, and Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa – and our chief soldiers also – are rushing into Your fearful mouths. And some I see trapped with heads smashed between Your teeth. As the many waves of the rivers flow into the ocean, so do all these great warriors enter blazing into Your mouths. I see all people rushing full speed into Your mouths, as moths dash to destruction in a blazing fire. O Viṣṇu, I see You devouring all people from all sides with Your flaming mouths. Covering all the universe with Your effulgence, You are manifest with terrible, scorching rays. O Lord of lords, so fierce of form, please tell me who You are. I offer my obeisances unto You; please be gracious to me. You are the primal Lord. I want to know about You, for I do not know what Your mission is.”

How to understand such a terrifying aspect of Kṛṣṇa?

The universal form shown to Arjuna is not just a vision of the physical universe; it includes Kṛṣṇa’s presence inside of it, and the action of all His different potencies involved in the cosmic affairs. One of these potencies is kāla, time. Kāla is the main force behind the cosmic creation; it is counted by Lord Kapila as one of the material elements, even though it