namaḥ purastād atha pṛṣṭhatas te
namo ’stu te sarvata eva sarva
ananta-vīryāmita-vikramas tvaḿ
sarvaḿ samāpnoṣi tato ’si sarvaḥ
Translation of Bhagavad Gita 11.40
Obeisances to You from the front, from behind and from all sides! O unbounded power, You are the master of limitless might! You are all-pervading, and thus You are everything!
Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
Out of loving ecstasy for Krishna, his friend, Arjuna is offering his respects from all sides. He is accepting that He is the master of all potencies and all prowess and far superior to all the great warriors assembled on the battlefield. It is said in the Vishnu Purana (1.9.69):
yo ’yam tavagato deva
samipam devata-ganah
sa tvam eva jagat-srasta
yatah sarva-gato bhavan
“Whoever comes before You, be he a demigod, is created by You, O Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
You pervade all of this universe (sarvam samapnosi), since it is your product, like gold in earrings and bracelets. Thus you are everything.
Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:
11.40 You, of infinite prowess and measureless heroic action, pervade all beings as their very Self and therefore, are, in reality all of them. Terms, naming all other entities, are truly naming You; for they, both sentient as well as non-sentient, constitute Your body, and as such are just Your modes. Therefore You alone, having them all as Your modes, are signified by all terms standing for them. In the texts, ‘O by You of infinite form, is the cosmos pervaded’ (11.38) and ‘You pervade all, and hence are all’ (11.40), it is clearly stated that the pervasion as the Self is the only rationale for speaking of them as one with You, in the sense of co-ordinate predication as in the text, ‘You are the imperishable and also being and non-being’ (11.37) and ‘You are Vayu, Yama and Agni’ (11.39).
Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:
By the way of establishing Lord Krishna as the embodiment of all and all pervasive with ananta-virya or unlimited potency, Arjuna gives Him obeisance from sarvatah or all directions as Lord Krishna pervades everything both inside and out exactly like gold pervades all the objects it incorporats such as bracelets and necklaces etc. In this way Lord Krishna is the embodiment of all creation as it comes from Him alone.
Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:
Here it is inferred that Lord Krishna is the composite total of all the demigods beginning with Vayu the demigod in charge of the wind due to the fact that they all are parts of His vibhuti or divine transcendental opulence. Va symbolises strength and aya symbolises wisdom which in their unlimited forms are qualities of the Supreme Lord. Since He is fully complete and resplendent within Himself various demigods are mentioned such agni or fire and varunah or ocean which represent His vibhuti or divine transcenndental opulence. Thus they manifest in unlimited ways.
Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:
Beholding the resplendent Supreme Lord Krishna in all His glory before him, Arjuna out of extreme expressions of devotion salutes the Supreme Lord with praises such as ananta-virya or unlimited personality and amita-vikramah or immeasurably powerful and humbly offers Him obeisance from all directions. He also states that Lord Krishna pervades the total creation because it is an extension of Him therefore He is everything in existence. Due to His attributes of omnicsience and omnipresence it is clearly established that Lord Krishna Himself is paramatma or the Supreme eternal soul pervading all creation and all living entities for the collective total of every atma or eternal soul of all living entities constitutes His divine, transcendental spiritual body and which also contains what appears to be inanimate as well. This proves that the material creation is not just an illusory mirage that is not factual adhered to by the mayavadis or the pseudo- impersonalists who do not believe that the Supreme Lord has unlimited qualities, phenomenal attributes and wonderfully, sublime personality.
Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:
11.40 Namah, salutation to You; purastat, in the East; atha, and; even prsthatah, behind. Salutation be sarvatah, on all sides; eva, indeed; te, to You who exist everywhere; sarva, O All! Tvam, You; are ananta-virya-amita-vikramah, possessed of infinite strength and infinite heroism. virya is strength, and vikramah is heroism. Someone though possessing strength for the use of weapons etc. [Ast. reads ‘satru-vadha-visaye, in the matter of killing an enemy’.-Tr.] may lack heroism or have little heroism. But You are possessed of infinite strength and infinite heroism. Samapnosi, You pervade, interpenetrate; sarvam, everything, the whole Universe, by Your single Self. Tatah, hence; asi, You are; sarvah, All, i.e., no entity exists without You. ‘Since I am guilty of not knowing Your greatness, therefore,’-
Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:
11.39-40 Namo namah etc. Salutation and salutation : This repetition reveals the intensity of the devotion. What has been taught by the past chapters by the Bhagavat regarding His own intrinsic nature, Arjuna – witnessing the same by perception – declares it openly by way of devotional hymn. Hence, to comment on the hymn would symply amount to the repetition [of what has already been said by us]. Hence, let me (11.Ag.) abstain [from commenting on it].
Sanskrit Shloka Without Transliteration Marks:
namah purastad atha prsthatas te
namo ’stu te sarvata eva sarva
ananta-viryamita-vikramas tvam
sarvam samapnosi tato ’si sarvah
Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:
namaḥ — offering obeisances; purastāt — from the front; atha — also; pṛṣṭhataḥ — from behind; te — unto You; namaḥ astu — I offer my respects; te — unto You; sarvataḥ — from all sides; eva — indeed; sarva — because You are everything; ananta-vīrya — unlimited potency; amita-vikramaḥ — and unlimited force; tvam — You; sarvam — everything; samāpnoṣi — You cover; tataḥ — therefore; asi — You are; sarvaḥ — everything.
