Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10, Verse 15

Chapter 10 – Vibhuti Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

स्वयमेवात्मनात्मानं वेत्थ त्वं पुरुषोत्तम ।
भूतभावन भूतेश देवदेव जगत्पते ॥

Transliteration

svayamevātmanātmānaṃ vettha tvaṃ puruṣottama .
bhūtabhāvana bhūteśa devadeva jagatpate ॥

Meaning

O Supreme Person, source of beings, Lord of beings, God of gods, master of the universe, You alone know Yourself by Yourself.

Word meanings

स्वयम् – Yourself
एव – alone
आत्मना – by Yourself
आत्मानम् – Yourself
वेत्थ – know
त्वम् – You
पुरुषोत्तम – O Supreme Person
भूतभावन – O source of beings
भूतेश – O Lord of beings
देवदेव – O God of gods
जगत्पते – O master of the world

Anvaya (word order)

पुरुषोत्तम, भूतभावन, भूतेश, देवदेव, जगत्पते, त्वं स्वयम् एव आत्मना आत्मानं वेत्थ ।

Explanation

In the last verse Arjuna said that neither gods nor demons know the Lord. Who then does? This verse answers: ‘You alone know Yourself by Yourself.’ There is no one else who can know the Lord; He is self-luminous. The sun needs no lamp to be seen; it is seen by its own light. In the same way the Lord knows Himself by His own knowledge.

Shankara explains that the Lord possesses unsurpassed knowledge, sovereignty and power, and therefore knows His own nature without any outside means. For the seeker this means that the only way to know God is for Him to reveal Himself by grace, as He said in verse 11, lighting the lamp of knowledge in the devotee’s heart.

Full of love and reverence, Arjuna calls the Lord by five names, as one calls a beloved again and again by different endearments. Purushottama, the highest of persons, a theme developed in chapter 15. Bhuta-bhavana, source of all beings. Bhutesha, ruler of beings. Devadeva, God even of the gods. Jagatpati, protector and master of the whole world.

The names form a sequence: the Lord is the origin, the ruler, the God of gods and the guardian of the entire universe. As he utters these names Arjuna’s heart fills completely with the Lord’s glory, and he is ready to ask Him to describe His manifestations in detail.

Context

In verse 14 Arjuna said that gods and demons do not know the Lord’s nature. Here he says that only the Lord knows Himself. In the next verse he prays that Krishna describe in full the divine glories by which He pervades all the worlds.

Life lesson

The final means of knowing the supreme Truth is its own grace. Remember God lovingly by His many names; each name is a door to some aspect of His glory.

Key terms

Purushottama: the Supreme Person, highest of all
Bhuta-bhavana: source of beings
Bhutesha: Lord of beings
Devadeva: God of gods
Jagatpati: master of the universe