Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9, Verse 17

Chapter 9 – Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

पिताहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामहः ।
वेद्यं पवित्रमोंकार ऋक्साम यजुरेव च ॥

Transliteration

pitāhamasya jagato mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ .
vedyaṃ pavitramoṃkāra ṛksāma yajureva ca ॥

Meaning

I am the father of this world, the mother, the sustainer and the grandsire; I am what is to be known, the purifier, the sacred syllable Om, and also the Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas.

Word meanings

पिता – father
अहम् – I
अस्य – of this
जगतः – world
माता – mother
धाता – sustainer, dispenser of fruits
पितामहः – grandsire
वेद्यम् – what is to be known
पवित्रम् – the purifier
ओंकारः – the syllable Om
ऋक् – the Rig Veda
साम – the Sama Veda
यजुः – the Yajur Veda
एव – indeed
च – and

Anvaya (word order)

अहम् अस्य जगतः पिता, माता, धाता, पितामहः, वेद्यं, पवित्रम्, ओंकारः, ऋक्, साम, यजुः एव च (अस्मि) ।

Explanation

After the elements of sacrifice, Krishna now speaks of His relationships with the world, and the chapter becomes deeply personal. ‘I am the father of this world’, the seed-giving cause of all. ‘The mother’, who carries, gives birth and nurtures with tenderness. In the Lord the protection of a father and the affection of a mother are united.

Dhata, the sustainer. Shankara also reads it as the dispenser of the fruits of karma, who gives each being what its actions have earned. Pitamaha, the grandsire, the father of the father: even Brahma the creator was born from Him. At every level of creation, at the root of every generation, He alone stands.

Vedyam pavitram: He is the one thing worth knowing and the purifier of all. Every scripture and every discipline exists finally to know Him. Omkara, the sacred syllable, is the holiest symbol of the Supreme, containing all the Vedas in seed form. The Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas too are He, for the Vedas are His knowledge and His voice.

For the devotee this verse is transforming. One who thinks of God only as a remote ruler of the cosmos learns here that He is our nearest kin, our mother and father. As a child runs to its parents without hesitation, the devotee may approach the Lord without fear or formality.

Context

In verse 16 Krishna identified Himself with every element of sacrifice. Here He presents Himself as the parent of the world and as the Vedas. In the next verse He describes Himself as the goal, supporter, refuge and friend of every soul.

Life lesson

God is not merely a distant ruler but our true mother and father. Approach Him with a child’s simple trust and love. Once this feeling is firm, no circumstance in life can make us truly orphaned.

Key terms

Dhata: sustainer, ordainer of the fruits of action
Pitamaha: grandsire, source even of Brahma
Vedya: that which is to be known
Omkara: the syllable Om, symbol of the Supreme