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The Lord said:
1. Once more, Great Arm, listen to my supreme word, which I shall utter to gladden you, out of a desire to do you good.
2. Neither the congregation of gods nor the great seers know my origin, for I am comprehensively the source of the gods and the great seers.
3. Among mortals, he who knows me as the birthless, beginningless, great lord of the world, is undeluded and liberated from all evils.
4. Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from delusion, patience, truthfulness, self-control, equanimity, happiness, misery, becoming and non-becoming, fear and fearlessness.
5. Non-violence, impartiality, contentment, austerity, liberality, honour, and dishonour are various creaturely states that originate from me alone.
6. The ancient seven great seers, and the four Manus from whom these beings in the world came, originated from me, born of mind.
7. Whoever truly knows this manifest all-pervading power and yoga of mine is disciplined by an unshakeable yoga – there can be no doubt about that.
8. The intelligent, filled with my state of being, share in me, knowing that I am the origin of all this, and that everything unrolls from me.
9. Their thoughts on me, their life breath directed towards me, enlightening each other and constantly talking of me, they are gratified and rejoice.
10. To those who are continuously disciplined, who worship me full of joy, I grant the discipline of intelligence by which they come to me.
11. Situated in their being, out of compassion for them I put to fight the darkness born of their ignorance with the bright lamp of knowledge.
Arjuna said:
12-13. Lord, the divine seer Narada, and all the seers, along with Asita, Devala, and Vyasa, call you highest Brahman, highest home, supreme purifier, eternal divine person, the original god, unborn and all-pervading – and you have told me so yourself.
14. All this you have told me I believe to be the essential truth, Keshava; for neither gods nor demons, Lord, know your manifestation.
15. You know yourself through yourself alone, Supreme Person, creator of creators, lord of beings, God of gods, lord of the universe.
16. Give me a complete catalogue of your divine, manifest, all-pervading power – manifestations through which, having pervaded the worlds, you continue in them.
17. Yogin, how, in constant meditation, may I know you? And in what various states of being should I meditate on you, Lord?
18. Tell me again, in detail, of your power and manifestation, Janardana, for I can never hear enough of this immortal discourse.
The Lord said:
19. Very well, I shall tell you about my divine manifestations – the major ones, Best of Kurus, for I am unbounded.
20. I am the self, Gudakesha, situated in the hearts of all creatures, just as I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of creatures.
21. Of the Adityas I am Vishnu, of lights the radiant sun, of the Maruts I am their leader Marichi, of heavenly bodies I am the moon.
22. Of the Vedas I am the Sama Veda, of the gods I am Indra, of the senses I am the mind, I am the consciousness of creatures.
23. Of the Rudras I am Shiva, of Yakshas and Rakshasas the Lord of Wealth, of Vasus I am Fire, of mountains I am Meru.
24. Know, Partha, that of appointed priests I am the chief – Brihaspati, of army commanders I am Skanda, of waters I am the ocean.
25. Of the great seers I am Bhrigu, of speech I am the single syllable Om, of sacrifices I am the muttered offering, of immovable things I am the Himalaya.
26. Among all trees I am the sacred fig tree, of the divine seers Narada, of the Gandharvas Chitraratha, of perfected beings the sage Kapila.
27. Know that of horses I am Ucchaihshravas, born from nectar, of lordly elephants Airavata, and of men the king.
28. Of weapons I am the thunderbolt, of cows the Cow of Plenty, procreating I am Kandarpa, the god of love, of snakes I am Vasuki, the serpent king.
29. Of Naga serpents I am Ananta, of water creatures I am Varuna, and of the ancestors I am Aryaman; among those who control I am Yama.
30. Of Daityas I am Prahlada, of reckoners I am time, of wild animals I am the lion, and of birds Garuda.
31. Of purifiers I am the wind, of warriors I am Rama, and of water monsters I am the crocodile, of rivers I am the Ganges.
32. Arjuna, I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of creations, the knowledge of supreme self among sciences; I am the discourse of those who speak.
33. Of letters I am the letter a, and of grammatical compounds I am the conjunctive one; I am indeed undecaying Time, the arranger facing in every direction.
34. I am death that bears everything away, and the source of what is yet to be. Of feminine things I am fame, prosperity, and speech, memory, intelligence, constancy, and patience.
35. In the same way, of Saman chants I am the Great Saman, of metres the Gayatri, of months I am the first month, of seasons I am Spring.
36. I am the dicing of the gamblers, I am the lustre of the lustrous, I am victory, I am purpose, I am the courage of the courageous.
37. Of the Vrishnis I am Vasudeva, of the Pandavas Arjuna, of the sages I am Vyasa, of poets I am Ushanas.
38. I am the stick of the chastisers, I am the strategy of those who seek to win, I am the silence of secret things, and the knowledge of those who know.
39. I am that which is the seed of all beings, Arjuna. There could be no creatures, moving or unmoving, without me.
40. There is no end to my divine manifestations, Incinerator of the Foe. I have spoken merely to let you sample the extent of my manifest power.
41. You should know that whatever being manifests abundant power, prosperity, or strength, in every instance it derives from a spark of my lustre.
42. But of what use is this wide-ranging knowledge to you, Arjuna? Supporting this entire universe with a single fragment of myself, I subsist.