Krishna tells Arjuna that even the Devas and highly evolved souls fail to understand how He projects Himself as the universe and all its manifestations. He goes on to describe the various qualities that beings manifest according to their Karmas. All these qualities—wisdom, truth, contentment, etc.—originate from Him.

The true devotees of the Lord are wholly absorbed in Him. They have completely surrendered to Him and through single-minded devotion they are granted the power of discrimination, the discrimination that leads them from the unreal to the Real. Krishna emphatically declares that ignorance is destroyed and knowledge gained through Divine Grace alone.

Arjuna accepts the descent of the Supreme in a human form, but wishes to know from the Lord Himself His Cosmic powers by means of which He controls the diverse forces of the universe. The Lord describes His Divine glories, bringing within the range of Arjuna’s comprehension His limitless manifestations, and how He upholds everything. In short, the Lord is the Almighty Power that creates, sustains and destroys everything.

The Blessed Lord said:

1. Again, O mighty-armed Arjuna, listen to My supreme word which I shall declare to thee who art beloved, for thy welfare!

COMMENTARY: The all-compassionate Lord in His mercy wants to encourage Arjuna and cheer him up, and so He Himself comes forward to give him instructions without any request having been made by Arjuna.

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

3. He who knows Me as unborn and beginningless, as the great Lord of the worlds, he, among mortals, is undeluded; he is liberated from all sins.

COMMENTARY: As the Supreme Being is the cause of all the worlds, He is beginningless. As He is the source of all the gods and the great sages, so there is no source for His own existence. As He is beginningless, He is unborn. He is the great Lord of all the worlds.

4. Intellect, wisdom, non-delusion, forgiveness, truth, self-restraint, calmness, happiness, pain, birth or existence, death or non-existence, fear and also fearlessness,

5. Non-injury, equanimity, contentment, austerity, fame, beneficence, ill-fame—(these) different kinds of qualities of beings arise from Me alone.

6. The seven great sages, the ancient four and also the Manus, possessed of powers like Me (on account of their minds being fixed on Me), were born of (My) mind; from them are these creatures born in this world.

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

8. I am the source of all; from Me everything evolves; understanding thus, the wise, endowed with meditation, worship Me.

9. With their minds and lives entirely absorbed in Me, enlightening each other and always speaking of Me, they are satisfied and delighted.

10. To them who are ever steadfast, worshipping Me with love, I give the Yoga of discrimination by which they come to Me.

COMMENTARY: The devotees who have dedicated themselves to the Lord, who are ever harmonious and self-abiding, who adore Him with intense love, who are ever devout, obtain the Divine Grace.

11. Out of mere compassion for them, I, dwelling within their Self, destroy the darkness born of ignorance by the luminous lamp of knowledge.

Arjuna said:

12. Thou art the Supreme Brahman, the supreme abode (or the supreme light), the supreme purifier, the eternal, divine Person, the primeval God, unborn and omnipresent.

13. All the sages have thus declared Thee, as also the divine sage Narada; so also Asita, Devala and Vyasa; and now Thou Thyself sayest so to me.

14. I believe all this that Thou sayest to me as true, O Krishna! Verily, O blessed Lord, neither the gods nor the demons know Thy manifestation (origin)!

15. Verily, Thou Thyself knowest Thyself by Thyself, O Supreme Person, O source and Lord of beings, O God of gods, O ruler of the world!

16. Thou shouldst indeed tell, without reserve, of Thy divine glories by which Thou existeth, pervading all these worlds. (None else can do so.)

17. How shall I, ever meditating, know Thee, O Yogin? In what aspects or things, O blessed Lord, art Thou to be thought of by me?

18. Tell me again in detail, O Krishna, of Thy Yogic power and glory; for I am not satisfied with what I have heard of Thy life-giving and nectar-like speech!

The Blessed Lord said:

19. Very well, now I will declare to thee My divine glories in their prominence, O Arjuna! There is no end to their detailed description.

COMMENTARY: The Lord’s divine glories are illimitable.

20. I am the Self, O Gudakesha, seated in the hearts of all beings! I am the beginning, the middle and also the end of all beings.

21. Among the (twelve) Adityas, I am Vishnu; among the luminaries, the radiant sun; I am Marichi among the (seven or forty-nine) Maruts; among stars the moon am I.

22. Among the Vedas I am the Sama Veda; I am Vasava among the gods; among the senses I am the mind; and I am intelligence among living beings.

23. And, among the Rudras I am Shankara; among the Yakshas and Rakshasas, the Lord of wealth (Kubera); among the Vasus I am Pavaka (fire); and among the (seven) mountains I am the Meru.

24. And, among the household priests (of kings), O Arjuna, know Me to be the chief, Brihaspati; among the army generals I am Skanda; among lakes I am the ocean!

25. Among the great sages I am Bhrigu; among words I am the monosyllable Om; among sacrifices I am the sacrifice of silent repetition; among immovable things the Himalayas I am.

COMMENTARY: Repetition of the Mantra is regarded as the best of all Yajnas or sacrifices. There is no loss or injury in this Yajna. Manu says: “Whatever else the Brahmana may or may not do, he attains salvation by Japa alone”.

26. Among the trees (I am) the peepul; among the divine sages I am Narada; among Gandharvas I am Chitraratha; among the perfected the sage Kapila.

27. Know Me as Ucchaisravas, born of nectar among horses; among lordly elephants (I am) the Airavata; and among men, the king.

28. Among weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows I am the wish-fulfilling cow called Surabhi; I am the progenitor, the god of love; among serpents I am Vasuki.

29. I am Ananta among the Nagas; I am Varuna among water-Deities; Aryaman among the manes I am; I am Yama among the governors.

30. And, I am Prahlad among the demons; among the reckoners I am time; among beasts I am their king, the lion; and Garuda among birds.

31. Among the purifiers (or the speeders) I am the wind; Rama among the warriors am I; among the fishes I am the shark; among the streams I am the Ganga.

32. Among creations I am the beginning, the middle and also the end, O Arjuna! Among the sciences I am the science of the Self; and I am logic among controversialists.

33. Among the letters of the alphabet, the letter “A” I am, and the dual among the compounds. I am verily the inexhaustible or everlasting time; I am the dispenser (of the fruits of actions), having faces in all directions.

34. And I am all-devouring death, and prosperity of those who are to be prosperous; among feminine qualities (I am) fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, firmness and forgiveness.

35. Among the hymns also I am the Brihatsaman; among metres Gayatri am I; among the months I am Margasirsa; among seasons (I am) the flowery season.

36. I am the gambling of the fraudulent; I am the splendour of the splendid; I am victory; I am determination (of those who are determined); I am the goodness of the good.

COMMENTARY: Of the various methods of defrauding others, I am gambling, such as dice-play. Gambling is My manifestation. I am power in the powerful. I am victory in the victorious. I am effort in those who make that effort.

37. Among Vrishnis I am Vasudeva; among the Pandavas I am Arjuna; among sages I am Vyasa; among poets I am Usana, the poet.

38. Among the punishers I am the sceptre; among those who seek victory I am statesmanship; and also among secrets I am silence; knowledge among knowers I am.

39. And whatever 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.

COMMENTARY: I am the primeval seed from which all creation has come into existence. I am the seed of everything. I am the Self of everything. Nothing can exist without Me. Everything is of My nature. I am the soul of everything.

40. There is no end to My divine glories, O Arjuna, but this is a brief statement by Me of the particulars of My divine glories!

41. Whatever being there is that is glorious, prosperous or powerful, that know thou to be a manifestation of a part of My splendour.

42. But of what avail to thee is the knowledge of all these details, O Arjuna? I exist, supporting this whole world by one part of Myself.

Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the tenth discourse entitled:

THE BHAGAVAD-GITA -- | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |