tvam aksaram paramam veditavyam tvam asya viśvasya param nidhānam | tvam avyayah śāśvatadharmagoptā sanātanastvam puruso mato me ||11.18||
It is my appreciation that you (are) imperishable, limitless, the one who is to be known; you are the ultimate basis (cause) of this world; you are not subject to change; you are the protector of the perennially eternal laws; you are eternal, and you are the complete being.
Seeing everything within the cosmic form of Īśvara, Arjuna understands Īśvara as nidhānam the ultimate basis of the world which appears to be other things but doesn't undergo any change, just like clay is the very basis for all earthenwares. And Īśvara is the protector of the law of dharma - śāśvatadharmagoptā, which never change - sanātanastvam. This ultimate reality should be known - veditavyam.
anādimadhyāntam anantavīryam anantabāhum śaśisūryanetram paśyāmi tvām dīptahutāśavaktram svatejasā viśvam idam tapantam ||11.19||
I see you as one who has no beginning, middle or end, with limitless power and endless arms, and the moon and the sun for your eyes, and a mouth like the blazing fire, who heats/energises this world by his own light.
Again Arjuna sees the cosmic form which has no beginning, middle and end. Previously in verse 11.16 the same thing is said by Arjuna, but that was in the context of the creator of the world where this cycle of creation itself has no beginning and end. Now here is in the context of limitless form which he can never capture with his sight. The cosmic form also is described from the standpoint of this planet, where sun and moon are the eyes, the sky is the body and the earth is the feet of the Lord. The mouth of the Lord is compared to blazing fire. The presiding deity of our mouth is agni-devata - the deity of fire, either input or output. As an organ of speech, it needs the blessing of the agni-devata to light up words to make them understandable. It is the purpose of communication. And as the organs of eating, it consumes food into the body as the first step of digestion system. Just like in the fire ritual, the fire consumes all the oblation, in the same way the entire creation is consumed back to the Lord when the time comes.
dyāvāprthivyoridam antaram hi vyāptam tvayaikena diśaśca sarvāh|
drstvādbhutam rūpam ugram tavedam lokatrayam pravyathitam mahātman ||11.20||
Indeed, this (space) in between heaven and earth and all the quarters are pervaded by you as one (form), Lord! Seeing this wondrous, frightening form of yours, the three worlds would tremble.
Arjuna covers all here is Īśvara alone by saying that the Lord pervades every quarters (north, east, south, west), even those in between including antariksa - the space in between heaven and earth. He glorifies all he sees as something wondrous, but also frightening. It is frightening for him because he doesn't see himself included in the cosmic form. He still sees the difference between himself, īśvara and the world. Fear is there only from a second thing, and there would be no second thing if he had included himself. How can a vision excluding oneself be cosmic (inconceivably vast)? Just like a wave seeing the entire ocean minus itself.
In Taittirīya Upanisad said that yadā hyevaiśa etasmin udaram antaram kurute atha tasta bhayam bhavati. With references to appreciation of Brahman - the cause of the world, if anyone were to make even a fraction of a division, then one will have fear.
Not only Arjuna was frightened by this form of the Lord who is having fiery mouth which represents death, but also by all three worlds which represent the entire creation will be trembled with death itself if they exclude themselves from Īśvara.
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