Chapter XI · Śloka 23
रूपं महत्ते बहुवक्त्रनेत्रं
महाबाहो बहुबाहूरुपादम् ।
बहूदरं बहुदंष्ट्राकरालं
दृष्ट्वा लोकाः प्रव्यथितास्तथाहम् ॥
महाबाहो बहुबाहूरुपादम् ।
बहूदरं बहुदंष्ट्राकरालं
दृष्ट्वा लोकाः प्रव्यथितास्तथाहम् ॥
rūpaṁ mahat te bahu-vaktra-netraṁ
mahā-bāho bahu-bāhūru-pādam ।
bahūdaraṁ bahu-daṁṣṭrā-karālaṁ
dṛṣṭvā lokāḥ pravyathitās tathāham ॥
mahā-bāho bahu-bāhūru-pādam ।
bahūdaraṁ bahu-daṁṣṭrā-karālaṁ
dṛṣṭvā lokāḥ pravyathitās tathāham ॥
Seeing Your great form with many mouths and eyes, O mighty-armed, with many arms, thighs, and feet, with many bellies, and terrible with many tusks — the worlds are terrified, and so am I.
Arjuna openly confesses his own fear alongside the terror of the worlds, breaking any pretense of heroic detachment. The piling up of bahu- ("many") evokes an overwhelming excess that the mind cannot integrate or control.