Chapter 11 Shlokas 28, 29

यथा नदीनां बहवोऽम्बुवेगा: समुद्रमेवाभिमुखा द्रवन्ति।

तथा तवामी नरलोकवीरा विशन्ति वक्त्राण्यभिविज्वलन्ति।।२८।।

यथा प्रदीप्तं ज्वलनं पतंगा विशन्ति नाशाय समृद्धवेगा:।

तथैव नाशाय विशन्ति लोकास्तवापि वक्त्राणि समृद्धवेगा:।।२९।।

Just as myriad rivers rush towards the sea,

 so also, these warriors of the mortal world 

are entering Your flaming mouth. Just as moths

enter the burning flame with full speed

only to get destroyed, so also these entire worlds

 enter Your mouth, hurtling towards extinction.

Chapter 11 Shlokas 28, 29

यथा नदीनां बहवोऽम्बुवेगा: समुद्रमेवाभिमुखा द्रवन्ति।

तथा तवामी नरलोकवीरा विशन्ति वक्त्राण्यभिविज्वलन्ति।।२८।।

यथा प्रदीप्तं ज्वलनं पतंगा विशन्ति नाशाय समृद्धवेगा:।

तथैव नाशाय विशन्ति लोकास्तवापि वक्त्राणि समृद्धवेगा:।।२९।।

Now Arjuna observes further:

Just as myriad rivers rush towards the sea, so also, these warriors of the mortal world are entering Your flaming mouth. Just as moths enter the burning flame with full speed only to get destroyed, so also these entire worlds enter Your mouth, hurtling towards extinction.

Little one, Arjuna says here:

a) Just as myriad rivulets rush towards the sea with great force, so also these courageous warriors of the mortal world are entering Your flaming mouth.

b) Just as moths enter the fire only to meet with their death, so also all these people are swiftly running towards You to be destroyed.

Arjuna’s first comparison is of rivers rushing to the ocean with people who take pride in their courage, and thus hasten towards their extinction, bound by their attributes. The Kshatriya tendencies of such people draw them towards the ocean of death, which they enter joyously, led by their love of war.

So also others are drawn towards death like a moth is drawn towards a fire:

1. Both are bound irrevocably by their innate qualities.

2. Both are progressing in accordance with the cycle of Prakriti.

3. The mortal body seems to thus seek its end.

However, moths and other such insects are blind, whereas the man of courage enters the fire of death knowingly. Arjuna included the principle warriors of the Pandava army in this gathering of gallant warriors. He is still perceiving the Lord in His immense, cosmic form and repeats that all these people are entering His flaming mouth.

Little one, Brahm or the Supreme Atma Self is unparalleled and an indivisible whole. However,

a) Arjuna is witnessing people dwelling on different planes of existence entering That One – he perceives all this in accordance with his own concepts.

b) Arjuna does not yet fully believe that, That One is whole and complete.

The Lord has already stated that He does not erode the faith of others – He simply strengthens their faith in the object of their faith.

Arjuna was firmly established in the quality of sattva and was deeply attached to that quality. He could accept all the Lord’s benevolent and good qualities but he could not impute any negative qualities to Him. He was thus extremely agitated at seeing this fierce aspect of the Lord, and mentally began to separate that form from the divinity which he acknowledged. He could thus see all these beings enter the Lord and he also perceived them being annihilated in the Lord’s gruesome form – however, he could not accept that all this was also the Lord.