Gita Verse 11.12

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 11, Verse 12

Sanskrit Verse

दिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य भवेद्युगपदुत्थिता।

यदि भाः सदृशी सा स्याद्भासस्तस्य महात्मनः।।11.12।।

Transliteration

divi sūrya-sahasrasya bhaved yugapad utthitā

yadi bhāḥ sadṛiśhī sā syād bhāsas tasya mahātmanaḥ

Word meanings

divi—in the sky; sūrya—suns; sahasrasya—thousand; bhavet—were; yugapat—simultaneously; utthitā—rising; yadi—if; bhāḥ—splendor; sadṛiśhī—like; sā—that; syāt—would be; bhāsaḥ—splendor; tasya—of them; mahā-ātmanaḥ—the great personality

Swami Sivananda's translation

If the splendour of a thousand suns were to blaze out simultaneously in the sky, that would be the splendour of that mighty being.

Chapter link: Gita Chapter 11

Trivia: This inspired the title of Linkin Park’s A Thousand Suns (2010) album. The album also features a spoken-word sample of J. Robert Oppenheimer famously quoting the Gita (specifically Verse 11.32: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”) in the tracks “The Radiance” and “A Thousand Suns.