damstra-karalani ca te mukhani
drishtvaiva kalanala-sannibhani
diso na jane na labhe ca sarma
prasida devesa jagan-nivasa


"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."

He addresses the Lord as Devesa and Jagan-nivasa. Devesa = Leader of Devas, jagan-nivasa = having the Universe in Him. He is the Commander of Devas. We name our houses as Nivasam; but, This Nivasam is very huge and the entire Universe is accommodated in it. Damshtra-karalani = frightening teeth, te = [in] Your [Sri Krishna's], mukhani = various faces, drishtva =seeing, eva = and so. That is, just by seeing the teeth and faces of the Lord's image in Viswaroopam, Arjuna is frightened. Neither he nor the Lord touched each other. Still, he feels afraid. Kala = doomsday, anala =fire, sannibhani = like [faces]. Arjuna sees the doomsday fire like faces or faces raging with doomsday fire, and frightening teeth. Disa =directions, na jane = not knowing. Arjuna is perplexed and seeing the faces of the Lord in Viswaroopam, everywhere, he is not aware of the directions, whether the faces were facing South, West, North or East! When we visit temples we are able to distinguish the direction in which the Lord is facing. But here, Arjuna sees faces everywhere! This can be compared to the word enguthai, cried by Alwar. Alwar cried because he lost sight of Him; while here, Arjuna is seeing the Lord in Viswaroopam and so in fear he is unable to find the directions. Sarma = comfort or happiness, na labhe = not got. That is, he is sorrowing, out of fear. Prasida = have mercy [on Arjuna], Devaesa, Jagan nivasa! Why should Arjuna plead for mercy on him? Was the Lord about to punish Arjuna? No. Arjuna requests the Lord to mercifully eliminate his fear! Jagan-nivasa means the supporter of the Universe. Entire Universe is seen in the Viswaroopam. That means this country Bharat, the place Kurukshetra, battlefield and the warriors must also be seen. Arjuna also must be seen. In that case is Arjuna now on the body of the Lord or is he still by the side of the chariot on the battlefield? Arjuna saw all including himself and other warriors on the Image of the Lord; and also, all, including Arjuna, were in their respective places! How this was possible? This is called akatithagatana shakti [அகடிதகடனா சக்தி]. It is an unimaginable power of the Lord. The Lord swallows entire Universe and has it in His stomach. Then, as a small infant, He is seen chewing His toe and reclining on a tender banian tree leaf! Alwar wonders how, when the entire Universe was swallowed, the banian tree with all leaves also should have been swallowed. Then, how the Lord is reclining on a single leaf? That is akatithagatana shakti! Similarly, Arjuna is seeing from outside his own image on the Viswaroopam. Thus he is confused about directions. Fear brings in gloom and so he prays the Lord to have mercy on him and restore him normalcy so that he could appreciate the Lord and pay respects. We will now take leave of this Kshetram.
                                                                                                 (continued)