9.16–9.19 — Bhagavad Gītā Decoded

9.16

अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञ: स्वधाहमहमौषधम् | मन्त्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम्

ahaṁ kraturahaṁ yajñaḥ svadhāham ahamauṣadham / mantro ’hamahamevājyaṁ aham agnir ahaṁ hutam / / 9.16

I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, and I am the oblation. I am the supporter of the universe, the father, the mother, and the grandfather. I am the object of knowledge, the sacred syllable “OM”, and also the Ṛg, the Yajur, and the Sāma Vedas. I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the substra- tum, and the immutable seed. I give heat. I send, as well as withhold, the rain. I am immortality, as well as death. I am also both the Eternal and the temporal, O Arjuna.

ahaṁ — I

kratuḥ — ritual

ahaṁ — I

yajñaḥ — sacrifice

svadhā — oblation

ahaṁ — I

auṣadhaṁ — healing herb

mantraḥ — transcendental chant

ahaṁ — I

eva — cer- tainly

ājyaṁ — melted butter

ahaṁ — I

agniḥ — fire

ahaṁ — I

hutaṁ — offering.

9.17

पिताहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामह: | वेद्यं पवित्रमोङ्कार ऋक्साम यजुरेव च

pitāhamasya jagato mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ / vedyaṁ pavitram oṁkāra ṛksāma yajureva ca / / 9.17

I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, and I am the oblation. I am the supporter of the universe, the father, the mother, and the grandfather. I am the object of knowledge, the sacred syllable “OM”, and also the Ṛg, the Yajur, and the Sāma Vedas. I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the substra- tum, and the immutable seed. I give heat. I send, as well as withhold, the rain. I am immortality, as well as death. I am also both the Eternal and the temporal, O Arjuna.

pitā — father

ahaṁ — I

asya — of this

jagataḥ — of the universe

mātā — mother

dhātā — supporter

pitāmahaḥ — grandfather

vedyaṁ — what is to be known

pavitraṁ — that which purifies

oṁkāraḥ — the syllable om

ṛk — the Rig Veda

sāma — the Sama Veda

yajuḥ — the Yajur Veda

eva — certainly

ca — and

9.18

गतिर्भर्ता प्रभु: साक्षी निवास: शरणं सुहृत् | प्रभव: प्रलय: स्थानं निधानं बीजमव्ययम्

gatirbhartā prabhuḥ sākṣī nivāsaḥ śaraṇaṁ suhṛt / prabhavaḥ pralayaḥ sthānaṁ nidhānaṁ bījamavyayam / / / 9.18

I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, and I am the oblation. I am the supporter of the universe, the father, the mother, and the grandfather. I am the object of knowledge, the sacred syllable “OM”, and also the Ṛg, the Yajur, and the Sāma Vedas. I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the substra- tum, and the immutable seed. I give heat. I send, as well as withhold, the rain. I am immortality, as well as death. I am also both the Eternal and the temporal, O Arjuna.

gatiḥ — goal

bhartā — sustainer

prabhuḥ — Lord

sākṣī — witness

nivāsaḥ — abode

śaraṇaṁ — refuge

suhṛt — most intimate friend

prabhavaḥ — creation

pralayaḥ — dissolution

sthānaṁ — ground

nidhānaṁ — resting place

bījaṁ — seed

avyayaṁ — imperishable.

9.19

तपाम्यहमहं वर्षं निगृह्णम्युत्सृजामि च | अमृतं चैव मृत्युश्च सदसच्चाहमर्जुन

tapāmy aham ahaṁ varṣaṁ nigṛhṇāmy utsṛjāmi ca / amṛtaṁ caiva mṛtyuśca sadasac cāham arjuna / / 9.19

I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, and I am the oblation. I am the supporter of the universe, the father, the mother, and the grandfather. I am the object of knowledge, the sacred syllable “OM”, and also the Ṛg, the Yajur, and the Sāma Vedas. I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the substra- tum, and the immutable seed. I give heat. I send, as well as withhold, the rain. I am immortality, as well as death. I am also both the Eternal and the temporal, O Arjuna.

tapāmi — give heat

ahaṁ — I

varṣaṁ — rain

nigṛhṇāmi — withhold

utsṛ- jāmi — send forth

ca — and

amṛtaṁ — immortality

ca — and

eva — certainly

mṛtyuḥ — death

ca — and

sat — being

asat — nonbeing

ca — and

ahaṁ — I

arjuna — O Arjuna.

He tells Arjuna that everything we do, everything we see, everything we feel, everything we know is because of Him. He says everything has come from Him. He is the seed of everything. Everything that we see is Parāśakti or universal energy. This is Kṛṣṇa’s message here. ahaṁ kratur ahaṁ yajñaḥ svadhānam aham auṣadham I mantro ‘ham aham evājyam aham agnir ahaṁ hutam II 9.16 Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 681 Great Masters lived in this realization. Ramaṇa, Rāmakṛṣṇa, Sadāśiva Brahmendra, Raghavendra and many masters lived in this consciousness of being one with the Universal Consciousness. Many people could not relate to the experience or the expression of their experience; so they considered these Masters mad.

All Are Brahman A small story: A disciple returns to his ashram. From a distance he sees a huge crowd. Getting curious, he pushes his way through the crowd and he is shocked. A dog is trying to eat food kept in his Master’s vessel and his Master is sitting on the dog! The disciple does not understand. ‘What nonsense is going on here? Oh Master, what are you doing?’ he asked, utterly confused. The Master calmly replied, ‘Don’t you see? Some Brahman has kept some Brahman on a Brahman. One four legged Brahman tries to eat it. Another Brahman rides on it. Many Brahmans stand and watch this event.

That’s all.’ On hearing this, the crowd disperses saying, ‘What is this madness?’ However the disciple feels that nothing his Master utters can be untrue. He sits under the nearby tree and contemplates. The potent words ‘plate, food, dog, master, people are all Brahman rings again and again in his ears. As the power of his Master’s words sinks in, the disciple realizes that all things surrounding him are the same Existence, Brahman. He realizes and understands that divine energy blissfully moves about in each and every thing. In a moment everything changes for the disciple. The thought of ‘I’ drops; instead, the feeling of ‘Self’ dawns. The fulfilling feeling of completion that ‘All is Brahman, everywhere is Brahman, Brahman is within me too’ is born.

He has the first experience of enlightenment. We are all Brahman; we are all divine. God is everywhere. Divine energy fills and overflows in all the places. This is what Kṛṣṇa says in these verses. This is the basic truth. Whether we believe it or not, accept it or not, understand it or not, this is the truth. We can call ‘It’ God—Kṛṣṇa, Śiva, Universal Energy, Cosmic Energy, Parāśakti or Brahman. Whatever we may call It, It is present everywhere. When we worship some idol or form, we actually worship the formless energy behind that idol. People ask me, ‘Why do we keep your photo in front of us and pray to it?

Why can’t we meditate on the formless?’ I tell them, ‘First start meditating on the form, then you can go to the formless.’ Our mind is continuously jumping everywhere. In such a state, we first need a form to bring our mind to the present. A form is necessary in the initial stages for the mind to calm down. Once we Master this, meditating on the formless becomes easier. We should understand that we are worshipping through that idol and not the idol itself. The basic truth in spirituality is that God is in the form of energy and He is formless. God cannot be an individual. He must be energy.

Religions give shapes and forms to this divine energy. It is a good beginning, but not the end. You can start with idol worship and move into worshipping the formless energy. Thousands of years ago, our sages clearly said in the Upaniṣad that everything is energy and everything arose from energy. The formless God is nothing but space, ether, or energy. Now it has been proven scientifically that there is ether even in vacuum. This energy is all-pervading. It is there everywhere. We now know with the help of powerful tools that 99.99% of an atom is empty space. Continuous vibrations go on in that empty space. Only these vibrations exhibit themselves as energy.

Each and every body is filled with energy. Today science says, ‘Everything is Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 683 filled with energy.’ Our Enlightened Masters expressed it this way, ‘God is energy and He fills all space and is omnipresent.’ Kṛṣṇa says this clearly in these verses. This energy cannot be destroyed. It can only change form. You see, when we switch on a light, electrical energy is converted into light energy. Electrical energy is not being destroyed. It has only changed form. In the same way, Universal Energy is everywhere. It is in everything around us and I tell you, it is within us also. Once we realize this great truth, we see that everything around us is the same as us.

Only the form in which everything exists is different. Kṛṣṇa tries to explain this great truth through these verses. When I say everything, I mean everything is Kṛṣṇa, everything is Brahman. Reside In Me, I Give And Preserve