Chapter 7 · Verse 8

Self-Knowledge and Enlightenment

रसोऽहमप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशिसूर्ययोः। प्रणवः सर्ववेदेषु शब्दः खे पौरुषं नृषु
raso ’ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śhaśhi-sūryayoḥ praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣhu śhabdaḥ khe pauruṣhaṁ nṛiṣhu

Word Meanings

rasaḥ — taste; aham — I; apsu — in water; kaunteya — Arjun, the son of Kunti; prabhā — the radiance; asmi — I am; śhaśhi-sūryayoḥ — of the moon and the sun; praṇavaḥ — the sacred syllable Om; sarva — in all; vedeṣhu — Vedas; śhabdaḥ — sound; khe — in ether; pauruṣham — ability; nṛiṣhu — in humans

Translation

I am the taste in water, O Arjuna, the radiance of the moon and sun, the sacred syllable Om in all the Vedas, sound in ether, and virility in men.

Commentary

रसः sapidity? अहम् I? अप्सु in water? कौन्तेय O Kaunteya (son of Kunti)? प्रभा light? अस्मि am (I)? शशिसूर्ययोः in the moon and the sun? प्रणवः the syllable Om? सर्ववेदेषु in all the Vedas? शब्दः sound? खे in ether? पौरुषम् virility? नृषु in men.Commentary In Me all beings and the whole world are woven as a cloth in the warp. In Me as sapidity the water is woven in Me as light? the sun and the moon are woven in Me as the sacred syllable Om all the Vedas are woven in Me as virility all men are woven.The manifestations of the Lord are described in the verses 8? 9? 10 and 11. (Cf.XV.12)