Divine Glories
The Blessed Lord said:
1. Hear again, O mighty armed one, My words on the Supreme Truth. Desirous of your
good, I want to declare it to you, who are so beloved of Me.
2. Neither the hosts of gods nor Maharishis (great sages) know my origin, for I am Myself
the origin of all those gods and great sages.
3. He who knows Me as the beginningless, the unborn and the Master of the worlds - he
among mortals becomes undeluded, and he is freed from all sins.
4-5. Intelligence, knowledge, sanity, patience, truth, sense-control, mind-control, pleasure,
pain, birth, death, fear and also fearlessness; non-injury, same-sightednsss, contentment,
austerity, benevolence, fame and obloquy - all these diverse modes of the mind seen in all
beings proceed from Me alone, their ultimate sanctioner.
6. The seven great sages (beginning with Marichi) as also the four earlier ones like Sanaka
and the rest and the Manus likewise are My emanations, being projections of my thought.
All this race of men is their progeny.
7. He who knows the truth about this manifestation of My Divine majesties and about My
power, gets united with Me in steady and unfaltering communion. There is no doubt about
this.
8. I am the source of all things, from Me all these go forth - knowing thus the wise ones
worship Me, being filled with ecstatic devotional fervour.
9. With their minds engrossed and their vital energies deeply involved in Me, they are ever
contented and delighted by mutually conversing about Me and enlightening each other
thereby.
10. To those who serve Me with delight and are ever steadfast in spiritual communion, I
bestow intuitive understanding by means of which they come to Me.
11. Out of sheer compassion for them, residing within as their innermost self, I destroy the
darkness born of ignorance in them by the brilliant lamp of wisdom.
Arjuna said:
12-13. Thou art the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Abode, the Utterly Holy. Thou art the
eternal divine Person - the birthless and all-pervading Divinity supreme. All the Rishis
proclaim this - the divine sage Narada as also Asita, Devala and Vyasa; Thou Thyself too
dost tell Me the same.
14. O Kesava! Whatever Thou hast told me, I deem as true. Verily, O Lord, neither the
Devas nor the Danavas know what Thy manifestations are.
15. O Thou the highest of all beings! O Creator of all! O Lord of all! O God of gods! O Ruler
of the world! Thou art known only to Thyself through self-intuition.
16. Deign to speak to me in entirety of those divine manifestations of Thy glory, whereby,
pervading all these worlds. Thou abidest in them and beyond.
17. How am I to know Thee, O Yogin, through constant meditation? In what all aspects
shouldst Thou be contemplated upon by me, O Lord?
18. O Janardana! Tell me again and again of Thy divine powers and majesties; for I am ever
eager to hear more and more of Thy nectarine words.
The Blessed Lord said:
19. Behold, O best of the Kurus! I shall declare unto you what My divine self-manifestations
are; but I shall mention only the chief of them. For, there is no end to their details.
20. O Arjuna! I am the Self residing in the heart of every being. I am their beginning, their
life-span, and their end.
21. Of the twelve Adityas (suns), I am Vishnu; among the luminaries I am the radiant sun;
among the seven Maruts (winds) I am Marichi; and of the Nakshatras (asterisms), I am the
moon.
22. Of the Vedas, I am the Sama Veda; among the Devas, I am Indra; of the senses, I am the
mind; and in living beings, I am intelligence.
23. Of the eleven Rudras, I am Shankara; among the Demigods and Titans, I am Kubera; of
the eight Vasus, I am Agni; among mountains, I am the Meru.
24. Among the priests, know me to be the chief of them - Brihaspati, the priest of the
Devas, O Arjuna. Among the war-lords I am Skanda; among the water reservoirs, I am the
ocean.
25. Among the great sages, I am Bhrigu; among utterances I am the mono-syllabled 'Om';
among holy offerings, I am the offering of Japa (silent repetition of Divine Names); among
immovable objects, I am the mount Himalaya.
26. Among all trees, I am the holy fig-tree; among the divine sages, I am Narada; among
celestial artistes, I am Chitraratha; among perfected souls, I am Kapila the sage.
27. Among horses know Me to be the nectar-born Uchchaishravas, among the lordly
elephants, the white celestial elephant Airavata; and among men, persons endowed with
leadership.
28. Among weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows, Kamadhenu the celestial cow of
plenty; among progenitors, Kama the god of love; and among snakes, Vasuki.
29. Among serpents I am Ananta; among water-dwellers I am Varuna; among the manes I
am Aryama; and among the enforcers of law I am Yama.
30. Among Daityas I am Prahlada; among calculators I am time; among animals I am the
lion; and among birds I am Garuda.
31. Among purifying agents I am the wind; among warriors I am Rama; among the fish I
am the shark; and among rivers I am the Ganga.
32. O Arjuna! Of the created objects I am the beginning, middle and end; among the
sciences, I am the science of the spirit; and in debaters lam the power of correct reasoning.
33. Among letters I am the letter 'A', among compound word formations I am the
copulative (dvandva). I am also the never-ending Time and the all-seeing Brahma (the
dispenser of the Karmas of all beings).
34. I am the all-destroying Death, and I am the origin of all that are to come too. Among
virtues considered as female I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence, constancy
and patience.
35. Among the Sama hymns I am the Brihatsaman (the Great Chant); among the Vedic
metres, I am the Gayatri; among months, I am Margashirsha (Nov-Dec.) and among
seasons, I am the flower-bearing spring.
36. I am the dicing of the deceitful, the power of the powerful and the goodness of the good.
I am victory, determination and constancy too.
37. I am Vasudeva among the Vrishnis and Arjuna among the Pandavas. I am Vyasa among
sages, and Ushana among the far-sighted.
38. I am the rod of chastisement in the disciplinarians; I am the wise policy in those
seeking success; I am silence in the arts of secrecy; and I am wisdom in the wise.
39. Of all beings I am the seed, O Arjuna. Whatever exists in this world, living or non-
living, none of them can be, if I were not.
40. O great warrior! There is no end to my divine manifestations. What I have expounded
forms only a few of them by way of examples.
41. Whatever there is endowed with extraordinary glory, attractiveness and vigour, know
all that to be born of a fragment of My power.
42. But then, of what avail is this detailed understanding of my manifestations to you, O
Arjuna! Supporting this mighty universe with but one single fragment of My self, I remain
unchanged and transcendent.
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