Tenth Chapter. Glimpses of the Divine Glory

Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, English translation and commentary by Swami Swarupananda, [1909], at sacred-texts.com

p. 219

TENTH CHAPTER

The Blessed Lord said:

1. Again, O mighty-armed, do thou listen to My supreme word, which I, wishing thy welfare, will tell thee who art delighted (to hear Me). ¹

p. 220

2. Neither the hosts of Devas, nor the great Rishis, know My origin, for in every way I am the source of all the Devas and the great Rishis. ²

3. He who knows Me, birthless and beginningless, the great Lord of worlds—he, among mortals, is undeluded, he is freed from all sins. ³

p. 221

4-5. Intellect, knowledge, non-delusion, forbearance, truth, restraint of the external senses, calmness of heart, happiness, misery, birth, death, fear, as well as fearlessness, non-injury, evenness, contentment, austerity, benevolence, good name, (as well as) ill-fame;—(these) different kinds of qualities of beings arise from Me alone. ⁴

p. 222

6. The seven great Rishis as well as the four ancient Manus, possessed of powers like Me (due to their thoughts being fixed on Me), were born of (My) mind; from them are these creatures in the world. ⁶

7. He who in reality knows these manifold manifestations of My being and (this) Yoga power of Mine, becomes established in the unshakable Yoga; there is no doubt about it. ⁷

p. 223

8. l am the origin of all, from Me everything evolves;—thus thinking the wise worship Me with loving consciousness. ⁸

9. With their minds wholly in Me, with their senses absorbed in Me, enlightening one another, and always speaking of Me, they are satisfied and delighted. ⁹

p. 224

10. To them, ever steadfast and serving Me with affection, I give that Buddhi Yoga by which they come unto Me. ¹⁰

11. Out of mere compassion for them,

p. 225

[paragraph continues] I, abiding in their hearts, destroy the darkness (in them) born of ignorance, by the luminous lamp of knowledge. ¹¹

p. 226

Arjuna said:

12-13. The Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Abode, the Supreme Purifier, art Thou. All the Rishis, the Deva-Rishi Nârada as well as Asita, Devala and Vyâsa have declared Thee as the Eternal, the Self-luminous Purusha, the first Deva, Birth-less and All-pervading. So also Thou Thyself sayest to me.

14. I regard all this that Thou sayest to me as true, O Keshava. Verily, O Bhagavân, neither the Devas nor the Dânavas know Thy manifestation. ¹⁴

p. 227

15. Verily, Thou Thyself knowest Thyself by Thyself, O Purusha Supreme, O Source of beings, O Lord of beings, O Deva of Devas, O Ruler of the world.

16. Thou shouldst indeed speak, without reserve, of Thy divine attributes by which, filling all these worlds, Thou existest. ¹⁶

p. 228

17. How shall I, O Yogin, meditate ever to know Thee? In what things, Bhagavân, art Thou to be thought of by me? ¹⁷

18. Speak to me again in detail, Jnanârdana, of Thy Yoga-powers and attributes; for I am never satiated in hearing the ambrosia (of Thy speech). ¹⁸

p. 229

The Blessed Lord said:

19. I shall speak to thee now, O best of the Kurus, of My divine attributes, according to their prominence; there is no end to the particulars of My manifestation. ¹⁹

20. I am the Self, O Gudâkesha, existent in the heart of all beings; I am the

p. 230

beginning, the middle, and also the end of all beings. ²⁰

21. Of the Adityas, I am Vishnu; of luminaries, the radiant Sun; of the winds, I am Marichi; of the asterisms, the Moon.

22. I am the Sâma-Veda of the Vedas, and Vâsava (Indra) of the gods; of the senses I am Manas, and intelligence in living beings am I.

p. 231

23. And of the Rudras I am Sankara, of the Yakshas and Râkshasas the Lord of wealth (Kuvera), of the Vasus I am Pâvaka, and of mountains, Meru am I.

24. And of priests, O son of Prithâ, know Me the chief, Brihaspati; of generals, I am Skanda; of bodies of water, I am the ocean.

p. 232

25. Of the great Rishis I am Bhrigu; of words I am the one syllable "Om"; of Yajnas I am the Yajna of Japa (silent repetition); of immovable things the Himâlaya. ²⁵

26. Of all trees (I am) the Ashvattha, and Nârada of Deva-Rishis; Chitraratha of Gandharvas am I, and the Muni Kapila of the perfected ones.

p. 233

27. Know Me among horses as Uchchaisshravas, Amrita-born; of lordly elephants Airâvata, and of men the king. ²⁷

28. Of weapons I am the thunderbolt, of cows I am Kâmadhuk; I am the Kandarpa, the cause of offspring; of serpents I am Vâsuki.

p. 234

29. And Ananta of snakes I am, I am Varuna of water-beings; and Aryaman of Pitris I am, I am Yama of controllers.

30. And Prahlâda am I of Diti's progeny, of measurers I am Time; and of beasts I am the lord of beasts, and Garuda of birds.

31. Of purifiers I am the wind, Râma

p. 235

of warriors am I; of fishes I am the shark, of streams I am Jâhnavi (the Ganges).

32. Of manifestations I, am the beginning, the middle and also the end; of all knowledges I am the knowledge of the Self, and Vâda of disputants. ³²

p. 236

33. Of letters the letter A am I, and Dvandva of all compounds; I alone am the inexhaustible Time, I the Sustainer (by dispensing fruits of actions) All-formed. ³³

34. And I am the all-seizing Death, and the prosperity of those who are to be prosperous; of the feminine qualities (I am) Fame, Prosperity (or beauty), Inspiration, Memory, Intelligence, Constancy and Forbearance.

p. 237

35. Of Sâmas also I am the Brihat-Sâma, of metres Gâyatri am I; of months I am Mârgashirsha, of seasons the flowery season. ³⁵

36. I am the gambling of the fraudulent, I am the power of the powerful; I am victory, I am effort, I am Sattva of the Sâttvika. ³⁶

p. 238

37. Of the Vrishnis I am Vâsudeva; of the Pândavas, Dhananjaya; and also of the Munis I am Vyâsa; of the sages, Ushanas the sage.

38. Of punishers I am the sceptre; of those who seek to conquer, I am statesmanship; and also of things secret I am silence, and the knowledge of knowers am I.

p. 239

39. And whatsoever is the seed of all beings, that also am I, O Arjuna. There is no being, whether moving or unmoving, that can exist without Me.

40. There is no end of My divine attributes, O scorcher of foes; but this is a brief statement by Me of the particulars of My divine attributes.

41. Whatever being there is great,

p. 240

prosperous or powerful, that know thou to be a product of a part of My splendour.

42. Or what avails thee to know all this diversity, O Arjuna? (Know thou this,. that) I exist, supporting this whole world by a portion of Myself.

The end of the tenth chapter, designated Glimpses of the Divine Glory.

Footnotes

219:1 Supreme—as revealing the unsurpassed truth.

220:2 Prabhavam—higher origin (birth);—though birthless, yet taking various manifestations of power. Or it may mean, great Lordly power.

In every way: not only as their producer, but also as their efficient cause, and the guide of their intellect, &c.

220:3 All sins—consciously or unconsciously incurred.

221:4 Arise &c.—according to their respective Karma.

222:6 The four ancient Manus: The four Manus of the past ages known as Savarnas.

222:7 This Yoga power—i.e., the fact that the great Rishis and the Manus possessed their power and wisdom, as partaking of a very small portion of the Lord's infinite power and wisdom. p. 223

Unshakable Yoga: Samâdhi, the state of steadiness in right realisation.

223:8 Loving consciousness—of the One Self in all.

223:9 Satisfied: when there is cessation of all thirst. p. 224

Says the Purâna: All the pleasures of the senses in the world, and also all the great happiness in the divine spheres, are not worth a sixteenth part of that which comes from the cessation of all desires.

224:10 Buddhi Yoga—Devotion of right knowledge, through Dhyâna, of My essential nature as devoid of all limitations.

See II. 39.

225:11 Luminous lamp of knowledge—characterised by discrimination; fed by the oil of contentment due to Bhakti; fanned by the wind of absorbing meditation on Me; furnished with the wick of pure consciousness evolved by the constant cultivation of Brahmacharyam and other pious virtues; held in the reservoir of the heart devoid of worldliness; placed in the wind-sheltered recess of the mind, withdrawn from the sense-objects, and untainted by attachment and aversion; shining with the light of right knowledge, engendered by incessant practice of concentration.—Sankara.

226:14 Bhagavân—is he in whom ever exist in their fulness, all powers, all Dharma, all glory, all success, all renunciation and all freedom. Also he that knows the origin and dissolution and the future of all beings, as well as knowledge and ignorance, is called Bhagavân.

227:16 Since none else can do so.

228:17 In what things &c.: In order that the mind even thinking of external objects, may be enabled to contemplate Thee in Thy particular manifestations in them.

228:18 Janârdana—to whom all pray for prosperity and salvation.

229:19 According to their prominence, i.e., only where they are severally the most prominent.

230:20 Gudâkesha—conqueror of sleep.

Beginning etc.—That is, the birth, the life, and the death of all beings.

232:25 Yajna of Japa—because there is no injury or loss of life involved in it, it is the best of all Yajnas.

233:27 Amrita-born: Brought forth from the ocean when it was churned for the nectar.

235:32 Vâda. Discussion is classified under three heads: 1. Vâda; 2. Vitandâ; 3. Jalpa.

In the first, the object is to arrive at truth; in the second, idle carping at the arguments of another, without trying to establish the opposite side of the question; and in the third, the assertion of one's own opinion, and the attempt to refute that of the adversary by overbearing reply or wrangling rejoinder.

236:33 Inexhaustible Time, i.e., Eternity. Kâla spoken of before is finite time.

237:35 Mârgashirsha—month including parts of November and December.

Flowery season—Spring.

237:36 I am victory, I am effort: I am victory of the victorious, I am the effort of those who make an effort.