A Song of Fortune - A Classical Gita: Chapter 10

(1) The fortunate one said: 'Listen again, oh man of grip, to my supreme instruction imparted to your benefit, for you're very dear to me. (2) My origin is not even known to the greatest wise or gods of enlightenment; in every respect I am the source of the great sages and the God-conscious ones. (3) He who knows me as the unborn one to whom there's no beginning, and the great controller of the world, sees it as it is; such a one not deluded among the mortals is delivered from all reactions to his sin. (4-5) The different aspects I arrange in the living being are intelligence, knowledge, composure, forgiveness, truthfulness, control over the senses and the mind; happiness, grief, birth, death, fear and fearlessness as well, as also nonviolence, equilibrium, contentment, austerity, charity, fame and infamy. (6) Every human being taking birth in the world, originated from the ancient, seven great sages and the four primal fathers who also stem from my mind.¹⁰ (7) They, who realize that all this opulence and unification of consciousness originated from me, will undivided be of service in their yoga, that suffers no doubt. (8) I am the source from which all in existence generated, from me everything emanated and therefore the intelligent ones who know this, connected by their love, will be devoted to me. (9) With their minds set on me and their lives devoted to me, they enlighten one another, constantly talking about me, and they find thus their satisfaction and contentment. (10) Those who are constantly connected in the joy so fundamental to devotional service, I grant the intelligence of a unified consciousness by which they come to me. (11) With the wealth of my compassion I, situated in their hearts, with the shining light of knowledge dispel all the darkness of ignorance.'

(12-13) Arjuna said: 'This of you, that you're now discussing with me, concerns the One about whom all the great sages among the godly like Nârada, Asita, Devala and Vyâsa speak: it concerns you in the form of the supreme spirit, the supreme abode, the purity of transcendence, the original personality, the controller in the beyond, the one unborn and the greatest. (14) All this you now confide to me I take for real, oh paragon of beauty, surely has no man of God or any ignorant soul either, knowledge of this revelation of you as the Original One of all Opulence! (15) You, personally knowing yourself as the Soul of all souls, are thus the greatest of all persons, the source of all living beings, the Lord of all creatures, the God of the gods and the master of the universe. (16) As such it is up to you to tell in detail everything about your divine opulence, those means to all the human visions by which you stand your ground throughout all the worlds.¹¹ (17) How can I know you oh man of unity; how can I keep you in mind; in what form, or being of what kind of nature, should I remember you, oh man of the opulence? (18) Oh excitement of man, again I implore you, to tell me all about your powers of unifying consciousness, for my ears never have enough of the nectar of those descriptions!'

(19) The fortunate one said: 'Okay, I'll discuss with you the most important of my divine, personal powers, oh best of the Kurus, for there is really no end to my extent. (20) Oh conqueror of sleep, I as that soul situated within, am the beginning, the life in between, as also the end station of all living beings. (21) Among all the sons who took birth from the sages I am Vishnu, of all the luminaries I am the radiant sun, among the brightest minds I am Marîci, and to the order of time in relation to the stars I am the moon.¹² (22) Of the religious books I am the book of chants, the Sâma Veda; among the gods I am Indra the king of heaven¹³; of all the senses I am the sixth one, the mind, and of all the living beings I am the life force. (23) Of the ones posing a threat I am S'iva; and among the ones possessed and wicked I am Kuvera, the treasurer; of the deities of nature I am the fire, and of all mountains I am mount Meru in the middle of the universe.¹⁴ (24) Of all priests I am the priest of heaven, Brihaspati, oh son of Prithâ; of all military commanders I am Skanda the god of war, and of all reservoirs of water I am the ocean. (25) Among the wise I am Bhrigu, the counselor of the first man alive; of all words spoken I am the word AUM resonating with the breath, of all the sacrifices I am japa, the repeated prayer performed with prayer beads, and of all the things immovable I am the Himalayas. (26) Among the trees I am the tree of life, the as'vattha; among the seers of the divine I am sage Nârada, among the heavenly creatures I am Cittaratha, the singer of the divine song, and among the ones of perfect attainment I am the analyst Kapila who distinguishes between spirit and matter. (27) Among the horses I am Uccaihs'ravâ who carries the solar order and originated from the political fugue between the enlightened and the unenlightened, and among the elephants I am Airâvata who carries Indra. (28) Of all weapons I am the thunderbolt, of the cows I am the cow of plenty, the surabhi; of the causes of begetting children I am Cupid, the god of love, and of all the serpents I am Vâsuki, the ego which sets in motion the debate between the ones of strength and the ones of morality. (29) Among the self-satisfied I am Ananta upon whom Vishnu rests, among all the water entities of the unconscious I am Varuna, the one of insight who defeats the transgression; among all the ancestors I am Aryâma, the one in the beyond remembered for his civility; and of all that controls I am Yama, the lord of death. (30) Among the atheists I am Prahlâda, the one who found the grace; among all the subduers I am the Time; of all animals I am the lion and of everything winged I am Garuda, the integrity of the mantras. (31) Of everything that purifies I am the wind; of all who carry a weapon I am Lord Râma, the one self-satisfied; of all creatures of the sea I am the shark and of all the streams flowing on earth I am the Ganges flowing from the highest peak. (32) Of all the created I am, as said, the beginning, the life in between and the end; I am, oh Arjuna, of all education the education concerning the âtmatattva, and of all argumentation I am the dialogue. (33) Of the letters of the alphabet I am the A, of the compound words I am the dual one, of what is eternal I am the Time¹⁵, and of those who are creative I am Lord Brahmâ, the godhead looking in all directions. (34) Of one's fate and future I am the end of life as also the beginning of life, and among women I am the fame, the beauty, the intelligence, the speech, the memory, the steadfastness and the patience. (35) Of the Sâma Veda hymns I am the metrical Brihat-sâma, of all verses I am the three-footed Gâyatri, of the months I am the one in the astronomical sign of Sagittarius, and of the seasons I am the spring season. (36) Of all trickery I am the game, of everything splendid I am the splendor, of all victory I am the enterprise and of the strong I am the strength. (37) Among the Yadus I am Krishna, among the Pândavas I am Arjuna; among the sages I am Vyâsadeva¹⁶ and among the thinkers I am Us'anâ, the teacher of the atheists. (38) Of the means of suppression I am the clout of the legal rule¹⁷, of those who seek the victory I am the morality, of all secrets I am the silence. (39) I am the source of whatever living being you can think of Arjuna; there is no creature alive, moving or non-moving, which exists outside of me. (40) There is no limit to my divine opulence, oh winner of the battle, and all this I told you is but an example of the expanse of my grandeur. (41) Oh conqueror of your opponents, whatever of power that may exist endowed with glory and beauty, found its existence as a part of my splendor. (42) You may also wonder of what use it would be for you to know of all this diversity Arjuna, when I, with a single part of myself, permeate the entirety of the living being that is the universe.'