Arjuna is afraid to behold Lord Krishna’s Viswarupa and prays that Krishna should manifest Himself as He always does. Paying heed to Arjuna’s request, the Supreme One assumes His usual form as Krishna, which is what Arjuna is accustomed to seeing. He then tells Arjuna that he need not fear to look at Him any more, for He has returned to His normal form. But the Lord reminds Arjuna what a rare boon has been conferred on him, said Valayapet Ramachariar in a discourse on the Bhagavad Gita.
The Lord says that His Cosmic form, which Arjuna saw, sustains the whole Universe. It is a form that celestials yearn to see, but have never witnessed. The Lord says it is a form that no one has ever seen. But here it seems as if something contradictory is being said, because it was said earlier that Brahma and other celestials worshipped His Cosmic form and that demons fled in fear when they beheld His Viswarupa. But now it is being said that none had seen His Cosmic form. How could both claims be true?
Brahma had indeed worshipped His Viswarupa, and demons had indeed fled upon seeing it. But they had seen only a portion. They had not seen it in its entirety. Arjuna was the only one who was fortunate to have seen the entire Cosmic form of the Supreme One. Arjuna had seen the demons flee. The Lord had deliberately made Arjuna see the fear of the demons, so that he should have no more doubts and should know that Krishna was indeed the Supreme One.
The Lord then tells Arjuna about the importance of bhakti and says that one who has bhakti will easily attain the Lord. But in the case of a person who does not have bhakti, even the study of the Vedas will be of no use to him. Even the celestials cannot reach Him if they have no bhakti.
