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The Supreme Lord said: My dear friend, mighty-armed Arjuna, listen again to My supreme word, which
I shall impart to you for your benefit and which will give you great joy.
Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin, for, in every respect,
I am the source of the demigods and the sages. He who knows Me as the unborn, as the beginningless,
as the Supreme Lord of all the worlds--he, undeluded among men, is freed from all sins.
Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, self-control
and calmness, pleasure and pain, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, nonviolence, equanimity,
satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and infamy are created by Me alone.
The seven great sages and before them the four other great sages and the Manus [progenitors
of mankind] are born out of My mind, and all creatures in these planets descend from them.
He who knows in truth this glory and power of Mine engages in unalloyed devotional service;
of this there is no doubt. I am the source of all spiritual and material
worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional
service and worship Me with all their hearts. The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in
Me, their lives are surrendered to Me, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss enlightening
one another and conversing about Me. To those who are constantly devoted and worship
Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.
Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp
of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance. Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman,
the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine
person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading
beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of
You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.
O Kṛṣṇa, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods nor demons,
O Lord, know Thy personality. Indeed, You alone know Yourself by Your own
potencies, O origin of all, Lord of all beings, God of gods, O Supreme Person, Lord of the
universe! Please tell me in detail of Your divine powers
by which You pervade all these worlds and abide in them.
How should I meditate on You? In what various forms are You to be contemplated, O Blessed
Lord? Tell me again in detail, O Janārdana [Kṛṣṇa],
of Your mighty potencies and glories, for I never tire of hearing Your ambrosial words.
The Blessed Lord said: Yes, I will tell you of My splendorous manifestations, but only
of those which are prominent, O Arjuna, for My opulence is limitless.
I am the Self, O Guḍākeśa, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the
middle and the end of all beings. Of the Ādityas I am Viṣṇu, of lights I am
the radiant sun, I am Marīci of the Maruts, and among the stars I am the moon.
Of the Vedas I am the Sāma-veda; of the demigods I am Indra; of the senses I am the mind, and
in living beings I am the living force [knowledge]. Of all the Rudras I am Lord Śiva; of the Yakṣas
and Rākṣasas I am the lord of wealth [Kuvera]; of theVasus I am fire [Agni], and of the mountains
I am Meru. Of priests, O Arjuna, know Me to be the chief,
Bṛhaspati, the lord of devotion. Of generals I am Skanda, the lord of war; and of bodies
of water I am the ocean. 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 Himalayas. Of all trees I am the holy fig tree, and amongst
sages and demigods I am Nārada. Of the singers of the gods [Gandharvas] I am Citraratha,
and among perfected beings I am the sage Kapila. Of horses know Me to be Uccaiḥśravā, who rose
out of the ocean, born of the elixir of immortality; of lordly elephants I am Airāvata, and among
men I am the monarch. Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows
I am the surabhi, givers of abundant milk. Of procreators I am Kandarpa, the god of love,
and of serpents I am Vāsuki, the chief. Of the celestial Nāga snakes I am Ananta;
of the aquatic deities I am Varuṇa. Of departed ancestors I am Aryamā, and among the dispensers
of law I am Yama, lord of death. Among the Daitya demons I am the devoted Prahlāda;
among subduers I am time; among the beasts I am the lion, and among birds I am Garuḍa,
the feathered carrier of Viṣṇu. 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.
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. Of letters I am the letter A, and among compounds
I am the dual word. I am also inexhaustable time, and of creators I am Brahmā, whose manifold
faces turn everywhere. I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator
of all things yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence,
faithfulness and patience. Of hymns I am the Bṛhat-sāma sung to the Lord
Indra, and of poetry I am the Gāyatrī verse, sung daily by brāhmaṇas. Of months I am November
and December, and of seasons I am flower-bearing spring.
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.
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.
Among punishments I am the rod of chastisement, and of those who seek victory, I am morality.
Of secret things I am silence, and of the wise I am wisdom.
Furthermore, O Arjuna, I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being--moving
or unmoving--that can exist without Me. 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. Know that all beautiful, glorious, and mighty
creations spring from but a spark of My splendor. But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this
detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire
universe.