Commentary on the Bhagavadgita

by Swami Krishnananda

Uccaihsravasam asvanam (10.27): “Among the treasures that rose from the ocean when it was churned for the sake of nectar by the gods and the demons – as it is told in the Puranas and especially in the Srimad Bhagavata – among these treasures, the divine horse called Uccaihsravas is Me.” It is the most powerful, most beautiful and most glorious of horses, and it is now under the control of Indra. “Such horse which is divine in nature, which came from Amrita Manthana, the churning of the Milky Ocean, that Uccaihsravas am I.” Viddhi mam amritodbhavam: that which came from the nectarine ocean.

Airavatam gajendranam: “Among mighty elephants, I am Airvata.” Another treasure that came from churning the ocean is Airavata, an elephant – the ideal of elephantine strength. It is the vehicle of Indra. Naranam cha naradhipam: “Among all human beings, I am king” because a king controls all persons.

Ayudhanam aham vajram (10.28): “Among all destructive weapons, I am Vajra.” Vajra is the weapon of Indra. It was made of the spine of a rishi called Dadhichi, and because of the tapas sakti of that sage, Vajra is an invincible weapon. Because it is an invincible weapon, God is supposed to be manifest in it.

Dhenunam asmi kamadhuk: “Among other treasures that came from the churning of the ocean, Kamadhenu is a wish-yielding cow. Anything that you want will be given by that cow, and that cow am I.” The daughter of Kamadhenu, called Nandini – who used to pour forth anything that one wanted – was taken care of by Vasishtha. When King Visvamitra went to Vasishtha’s ashram, Nandini entertained him with such a glorious repast that Visvamitra was stunned; and we have the story of the battle that then took place between Vasishtha and Visvamitra due to this cow, which is the daughter of Kamadhenu. Kamadhenu is the mother, the most divine of all cows, and is in heaven.

Prajanas chasmi kandarpah: “Of all the impulses to create, the power of reproduction is Myself, because it is the most powerful impulse in people. That which alienates itself into another – the self-reproductive instinct – is the most powerful instinct in a person; that acts because of My being behind it.”

Sarpanam asmi vasukih: There are two kinds of snakes, poisonous and non-poisonous. “Among poisonous snakes, I am Vasuki.”Anantas chasmi naganam (10.29): “Among non-poisonous snakes, I am Ananta” – on whom Narayana is reclining in the milk-ocean. Varuno yadasam aham: “Among aquatic beings, I am Varuna.” Because Varuna is supposed to be the king of all waters, he is the aquatic god and rules over all that is inside the ocean.

Pitrunam aryama chasmi: “Among pitrs, I am Aryama.” Just as there are many Adityas and many Rudras, there are also many pitrs; and Aryama rules over them.

Yamah samyamatam aham: “Among those who restrain, control, punish, and exert law and order everywhere, Yama am I.” Yamadanda is the punishing principle which maintains law and order in the universe.

Prahladas chasmi daityanam (10.30). “Among Daityas, because of the goodness and devotion of Prahlada, I consider Prahlada as Me.” Demons are very terrible, and we cannot find a demon who is a devotee of God; but Prahlada, the son of the demon Hiranyakasipu, happened to be a devotee of God. Therefore, even among Daityas there are some good ones.

Kalah kalayatam aham: “Among all transforming principles, time am I. Because the succession of events and everything that takes place in a historical process has a beginning and end, and because the very principle of evolution or involution is time, I am at the back of it.”

Mriganam cha mrigendro’ham: “Among all animals, I am the lion.” We know the glory and the power of the lion. He is the king of the forest, and the king of animals. Vainateyas cha pakshinam: “Among birds, I am Garuda.” Garuda is one of the celestial birds, and is mentioned at the beginning of the Mahabharata. Narayana, or Vishnu, is supposed to be riding on him. Garudadhvaja is Narayana, or Vishnu. Garuda is the most sacred and most powerful of birds.

Pavanah pavatam asmi (10.31): “Among all purifying principles in this world, breeze, air, wind am I.” Nothing can purify more than air. There must always be a breeze. Just as light is purifying, air is also purifying.

Ramah sastra-bhritam aham: “Among all the warriors, Rama am I.” Nobody is equal to Rama. When he takes up his bow and arrow, the earth simply trembles.

Jhashanam makaras chasmi: “Among aquatic fish-like creatures, the crocodile am I.” The crocodile is not a fish, but lives in the water and is the biggest and most powerful; therefore, it is considered as a special manifestation.

Srotasam asmi jahnavi: “Among all rivers, Ganga am I.” Ganga is the most holy of rivers. It comes from heaven itself, and passes through all the three regions – Svarga, Bhuloka and Patala.

Sarganam adir antas cha madhyam chaivaham arjuna (10.32): “Of all creative processes, the beginning and the middle and the end I am.” He is repeating once again that He is all-in-all – the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer.

Adhyatma-vidya vidyanam: “Among all learning – all sciences, arts and academic acquisitions – spiritual knowledge am I.” All other knowledge is secondary, because it is only spiritual knowledge that takes us to the immortal Self-realisation.

Vadah pravadatam aham: “Among discussions, I am the art of argument and logical disquisition, producing proof by deducing inferences from premises.” This is because all discussions culminate finally in the production of a proof by logical demonstration.

Aksharanam akaro’smi (10.33): “Among all the letters of the alphabet, I am the initial primary vowel ‘a’.” The vowel ‘a’ has to be with every other kind of intonation and letter of the alphabet – ka, kha, ga, gha, cha, chha, ja, jha. Whatever we may say, akara is at the back of it. Dvandvah samasikasya cha. Samasa is a kind of grammatical combination where two words of equal importance are joined together. It is a peculiar Sanskrit-oriented argument – ramascha krishnascha ramakrishnau – which is a joint presentation of two things in one word, and both words are equally important. Therefore, they are called dvandva, one being equal to the other. And because of the equality of the two principles involved in samasa, dvandva, the Lord says He is that. “One is not inferior to the other. I equilibrate both things.”

Aham evakshayah kalah: I am the imperishable time that controls and restrains all creatures.”Dhataham visvato-mukhah: “I am Brahma himself, with faces all around, who creates this cosmos.”

Mrityuh sarva-haras chaham (10.34): “I am the destroying principle at the end of time. I become a Rudra and dance to the tune of the dissolution of the whole cosmos. The tandava nritya of Rudra will take place at the end of time. When the music of the damaru starts, the earth will tremble and become pieces; the sun, moon and stars will fall down, and the whole of creation will become liquid. I am that destroying principle.” Udbhavas cha bhavishyatam: “I am also the principle that will re-create after the destruction.”

Kirtih srir vak cha narinam: “The beauty, the glory, the modesty and the grace that is found in women, that also am I.” Smritir medha dhirtih ksama: The power of memory, understanding, fortitude, and the capacity to forgive is a glorious quality of people. All these qualities are Me.”

Brihat-sama tatha samnam: “The Sama mantra, which is called Brihatsama, am I.” Among Sama mantras, there is a special Sama called Brihatsama. It is a highly spiritually charged invocation of God;  therefore, it is called Brihatsama – large Sama – the most powerful of Samas. It is the most important mantra, and it is chanted with music in the Sama Veda. Gayatri chandasamaham (10.35): “Among all the mantras of the Vedas, the Gayatri mantra am I. Also among all the metres, I am Gayatri.” The Gayatri mantra is the very root and essence of all the Vedic mantras.

Masanam marga-sirsho’ham: “Of the twelve months, the month of Margasirsha is Myself.” This is because of the subdued atmosphere of that particular period of the year when it is neither hot nor cold. Therefore, the Lord describes Himself as present in this harmonious presentation of atmospheric condition – the spring and the autumn. Margasirsha corresponds to autumn, to some extent. Ritunam kusumakarah: “I am also spring,” He says. He is spring and autumn both, because these are the two periods of the year when it is neither too hot nor cold, when it is pleasant. “I am that pleasant time.”

Dyutam chhalayatam asmi (10.36): “Among the deceivers, I am the gambler.” Very strange! That is: “The best and the worst am I.” It comes to that. Both that which is extremely good and extremely bad meet at one point, one day or the other;  therefore, God should be considered to be present even in an expert trickster.”

Tejas tejasvinam aham: “Among people who have great grace, power and energy in them, that energy, glory and varchas (radiance in one’s face arising out of spiritual awakening), comes from Me.” Jayo’smi vyavasayo’smi: “I am victory. Wherever there is success and victory, it is Me that brings out victory and success; and all activity that leads to success – vyavasaya – is Me only.” Sattvam sattvavatam aham: “I am the sattva in those people endowed with modesty, calmness, sobriety, intelligence, and goodness.”

Vrishninam vasudevo’smi (10.37): “Among the Vrishnis, I am Krishna.” The Vrishnis are a kind of clan; the Yadava clan is called the Vrishni clan, of which Krishna was their leader. Vasudeva is Sri Krishna himself. Here the Supreme Being refers to Vasudeva as Sri Krishna – a leader and the best among the Yadavas. Pandavanam dhananjayah: “Among the Pandavas, I am Arjuna.” He doesn’t say “I am Yudhishthira” even though Yudhishthira is supposed to be the most virtuous, because extremely virtuous people are not useful. They create trouble. And so Sri Krishna is Arjuna, who is moderate. Muninam apy aham vyasah: “Among munis, great saints and sages, I am Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa. The great master, the omniscient one, who wrote the Mahabharata, the Brahma Sutras and the Puranas and classified the Vedas, that great being is Myself.” Kavinam usana kavih: “Among political experts, the leaders of ethical and moral principles in political science, and very wise ones in administration, I am Usana – Sukracharya.”

Dando damayatam asmi (10.38): “Among restraining forces, punishment am I.” Nitir asmi jigishtam: “I am polite behaviour in people who want to win success.” Whenever we want to win victory, we must be polite in our behaviour – sama. This is the first method that we have to adopt. The other three – dana, bheda, danda – should come afterwards. Niti, or proper behaviour in  administrative and diplomatic ability, should be regarded as Myself because it is the best way of winning victory.” Maunam caivasmi guhyanam: “I am the silence of secrets. All secrets merge into pure silence. You don’t say anything, you don’t think anything, you just ‘Be’ yourself. That kind of spiritual inwardness, which is called silence, is Myself.” Jnanam jnanavatam aham: “I am the wisdom of all those who are wise.”

Yac capi sarva-bhutanam bijam tad aham arjuna (10.39): “Whatever be there in this creation – wherever it be, in whatever form – the seed of it is Me; it arises from Me.” Na tad asti vina yat syan maya bhutam characharam: “Without Me, nothing can come into being. Neither the moving nor the non-moving – sthavara jangama – nothing can come into being without Me. Therefore, I am the seed of all.”

Nanto’sti mama divyanam vibhutinam parantapa (10.40): “What is the use of talking much, O Arjuna! There is no end to My glories. How long will I go on describing them? I have told you a little bit – an outline of the main principles of My manifestations. I can go on endlessly telling stories of My manifestation. There is no limit, no end to My glories.” Esha tuddesatah prokto vibhuter vistaro maya: “I have specially mentioned certain things as examples, because it is not possible to delineate or describe everything in this world of time.” Even if we live as long as creation, all the names and glories of God will not be able to be delineated or explained, because the glories of God are infinite. “Wherever there is special excellence, consider Me as present there.” Excellence means a special manifestation of ability which ordinarily cannot be considered as possible for people. In the Guinness book, records of exceptional performances can be found. We may say even those are manifestations of God because they are something exceptional, which cannot be done ordinarily. That is why they are entered in the Guinness book. So we can add here: “The Guinness book also is Me.”

Yad yad vibhutimat sattvam srimad urjitam eva va, tat tad evavagaccha tvam mama tejo’msasambhavam (10.41): “Wherever there is glory, power, radiance, energy and aura spreading itself around, wherever there is manifestation of prosperity of every kind, high excellence, in that you can consider Me as present.”

Athava bahunaitena kim jnatena tavarjuna (10.42): “What is the use of talking more? Why do you want to ask so many questions?” Vishtabhyaham idam kritsnam ekamsena sthito jagat: “In brief I shall tell you: With a little fraction of Myself, I am sustaining the whole cosmos.”