Who is Loved?
Table of Contents
1 Listen again, O mighty-armed Arjuna. Because you are My dear friend, for your benefit I shall speak to you further, giving knowledge that is better than what I have already explained.
2 Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin or opulences, for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods and sages.
3 He who knows Me as the unborn, as the beginningless, as the Supreme Lord of all the worlds – he only, undeluded among men, is freed from all sins.
4-5 Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness and distress, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, nonviolence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and infamy – all these various qualities of living beings are created by Me alone.
6 The seven great sages and before them the four other great sages and the Manus [progenitors of mankind] come from Me, born from My mind, and all the living beings populating the various planets descend from them.
7 One who is factually convinced of this opulence and mystic power of Mine engages in unalloyed devotional service; of this there is no doubt.
8 I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.
9 The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.
10 To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.
11 To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.
12-13 You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala and Vyāsa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.
14 O Kṛṣṇa, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the demigods nor the demons, O Lord, can understand Your personality.
15 You alone know Yourself by Your own internal potency, O Supreme Person, origin of all, Lord of all beings, God of gods, Lord of the universe!
16 Please tell me in detail of Your divine opulences by which You pervade all these worlds.
17 O Kṛṣṇa, O supreme mystic, how shall I constantly think of You, and how shall I know You? In what various forms are You to be remembered, O Supreme Personality of Godhead?
18 O Janārdana, again please describe in detail the mystic power of Your opulences. I am never satiated in hearing about You, for the more I hear the more I want to taste the nectar of Your words.
19 Yes, I will tell you of My splendorous manifestations, but only of those which are prominent, O Arjuna, for My opulence is limitless.
20 I am the Supersoul, O Arjuna, seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.
21 Of the Ādityas I am Viṣṇu, of lights I am the radiant sun, of the Maruts I am Marīci, and among the stars I am the moon.
22 Of the Vedas I am the Sāma Veda; of the demigods I am Indra, the king of heaven; of the senses I am the mind; and in living beings I am the living force [consciousness].
23 Of all the Rudras I am Lord Śiva, of the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas I am the Lord of wealth [Kuvera], of the Vasus I am fire [Agni], and of mountains I am Meru.
24 Of priests, O Arjuna, know Me to be the chief, Bṛhaspati. Of generals I am Kārttikeya, and of bodies of water I am the ocean.
25 Of the great sages I am Bhṛgu; of vibrations I am the transcendental oṁ. Of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names [japa], and of immovable things I am the Himālayas.
26 Of all trees I am the banyan tree, and of the sages among the demigods I am Nārada. Of the Gandharvas I am Citraratha, and among perfected beings I am the sage Kapila.
27 Of horses know Me to be Uccaiḥśravā, produced during the churning of the ocean for nectar. Of lordly elephants I am Airāvata, and among men I am the monarch.
28 Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows I am the surabhi. Of causes for procreation I am Kandarpa, the god of love, and of serpents I am Vāsuki.
29 Of the many-hooded Nāgas I am Ananta, and among the aquatics I am the demigod Varuṇa. Of departed ancestors I am Aryamā, and among the dispensers of law I am Yama, the lord of death.
30 Among the Daitya demons I am the devoted Prahlāda, among subduers I am time, among beasts I am the lion, and among birds I am Garuḍa.
31 Of purifiers I am the wind, of the wielders of weapons I am Rāma, of fishes I am the shark, and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges.
32 Of all creations I am the beginning and the end and also the middle, O Arjuna. Of all sciences I am the spiritual science of the self, and among logicians I am the conclusive truth.
33 Of letters I am the letter A, and among compound words I am the dual compound. I am also inexhaustible time, and of creators I am Brahmā.
34 I am all-devouring death, and I am the generating principle of all that is yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, fine speech, memory, intelligence, steadfastness and patience.
35 Of the hymns in the Sāma Veda I am the Bṛhat-sāma, and of poetry I am the Gāyatrī. Of months I am Mārgaśīrṣa [November-December], and of seasons I am flower-bearing spring.
36 I am also the gambling of cheats, and of the splendid I am the splendor. I am victory, I am adventure, and I am the strength of the strong.
37 Of the descendants of Vṛṣṇi I am Vāsudeva, and of the Pāṇḍavas I am Arjuna. Of the sages I am Vyāsa, and among great thinkers I am Uśanā.
38 Among all means of suppressing lawlessness I am punishment, and of those who seek victory I am morality. Of secret things I am silence, and of the wise I am the wisdom.
39 I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being – moving or nonmoving – that can exist without Me.
40 O mighty conqueror of enemies, there is no end to My divine manifestations. What I have spoken to you is but a mere indication of My infinite opulences.
41 Know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendor.
42 But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.
To know You, must I muse continually?
Under what form of Thine unnumbered forms can You be grasped?
Can my ears drink the Amrit[FN#18] of such words?
Krishna.
I will unfold some portions of My Majesty to you.
I am the Spirit seated deep in every creature’s heart;
From Me they come; by Me they live; at My word they depart!
Vishnu of the Adityas I am, those Lords of Light;
Maritchi of the Maruts, the Kings of Storm and Blight; By day I gleam, the golden Sun of burning cloudless Noon; By Night, amid the asterisms I glide, the dappled Moon! Of Vedas I am Sama-Ved, of gods in Indra’s Heaven Vasava; of the faculties to living beings given The mind which apprehends and thinks; of Rudras Sankara; Of Yakshas and of Rakshasas, Vittesh; and Pavaka Of Vasus, and of mountain-peaks Meru; Vrihaspati Know Me ‘mid planetary Powers; ‘mid Warriors heavenly Skanda; of all the water-floods the Sea which drinketh each, And Bhrigu of the holy Saints, and OM of sacred speech; Of prayers the prayer ye whisper;[FN#19] of hills Himala’s snow,
of The Banyan tree Of the Devarshis, Narada; and Chitrarath of them That sing in Heaven, and Kapila of Munis, and the gem Of flying steeds, Uchchaisravas, from Amrit-wave which burst; Of elephants Airavata; of males the Best and First; Of weapons Heav’n’s hot thunderbolt; of cows white Kamadhuk, From whose great milky udder-teats all hearts’ desires are strook; Vasuki of the serpent-tribes, round Mandara entwined; And thousand-fanged Ananta, on whose broad coils reclined Leans Vishnu; and of water-things Varuna; Aryam Of Pitris, and, of those that judge, Yama the Judge I am; Of Daityas dread Prahlada; of what metes days and years, Time’s self I am; of woodland-beasts-buffaloes, deers, and bears- The lordly-painted tiger; of birds the vast Garud, The whirlwind ‘mid the winds; ‘mid chiefs Rama with blood imbrued, Makar ‘mid fishes of the sea, and Ganges ‘mid the streams; Yea! First, and Last, and Centre of all which is or seems I am, Arjuna! Wisdom Supreme of what is wise, Words on the uttering lips I am, and eyesight of the eyes, And “A” of written characters, Dwandwa[FN#20] of knitted speech, And Endless Life, and boundless Love, whose power sustaineth each; And bitter Death which seizes all, and joyous sudden Birth, Which brings to light all beings that are to be on earth; And of the viewless virtues, Fame, Fortune, Song am I, And Memory, and Patience; and Craft, and Constancy Of Vedic hymns the Vrihatsam, of metres Gayatri, Of months the Margasirsha, of all the seasons three The flower-wreathed Spring; in dicer’s-play the conquering Double-Eight;
The splendour of the splendid, and the greatness of the great, Victory I am, and Action! and the goodness of the good, And Vasudev of Vrishni’s race, and of this Pandu brood Thyself!–Yea, my Arjuna! thyself; for thou art Mine!
Of poets Usana, of saints Vyasa, sage divine; The policy of conquerors, the potency of kings, The great unbroken silence in learning’s secret things; The lore of all the learned, the seed of all which springs. Living or lifeless, still or stirred, whatever beings be, None of them is in all the worlds, but it exists by Me! Nor tongue can tell, Arjuna! nor end of telling come Of these My boundless glories, whereof I teach thee some; For wheresoe’er is wondrous work, and majesty, and might, From Me hath all proceeded. Receive thou this aright! Yet how shouldst thou receive, O Prince! the vastness of this word? I, who am all, and made it all, abide its separate Lord! –>