Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 11: The Vision of the Cosmic Form

Bhagavad Gita 11.30

lelihyase grasamānaḥ samantā- llokānsamagrānvadanairjvaladbhiḥ | tejobhirāpūrya jagatsamagraṃ bhāsastavogrāḥ pratapanti viṣṇo ||

Swallowing all the worlds on every side with your flaming mouths, you lick your lips. Your fierce rays fill the whole universe with their brilliance and scorch it, O Vishnu.

Modern context

The form is now pictured swallowing all the worlds and licking its lips. It is perhaps the most frightening image in the Gita. It shows time as an appetite that is never satisfied, consuming everything that exists. Every empire, every life, every achievement will be swallowed. Seen this way, holding on to anything as permanent is like holding on to a leaf in a fire.