Gita Series – 114: Bhagavad Gita Chapter X. Verse 19 – 22

Krishna replies: “Arjuna, I will tell you only the most important of My divine glories, as it is limitless. I am the universal Self seated in the hearts of all beings. I alone am the beginning, middle and end of all beings. I am Vishnu among the twelve sons of Aditi, I am the sun amongst luminaries, I am Marichi among the Maruts and I am the moon among the asterism. I am Samaveda amongst Vedas, I am Indra amongst gods, I am the mind amongst organs of perception, I am the consciousness amongst the living beings”

Krishna says that it is difficult to talk about His entire glory, as It has no limitations. Every sentient and insentient being is His reflection. To cite an example, such beings are nothing but the reflection of sun in the water kept in different vessels. There is only a single sun and its innumerable reflections are nothing but mirror images of the sun. In the same way, the Brahman is only one and the entire manifestation is nothing but reflection of the Brahman. Due to the lack of discriminative knowledge, all the beings are seen as different entities. When Krishna says that His manifestations have no limitations, He means His Omnipresent nature. Krishna simply explains this by saying that He is seated in the heart of all beings as the soul. The process of understanding this is Self-realisation. Self mean the Brahman and self means the soul. Soul is nothing but His direct representation in a body. Only when his representative is realised within, the next logical step would be to understand His omnipresent nature or the universal brotherhood. The soul enters the body at the time of conception and continues to remain till the body falls. At the time of death, the soul leaves the body either to enter another body immediately, or to take a sojourn in the heaven or to merge with the Brahman, not to be born again.

Krishna now beings to declare the best among the bests, and cite them as examples of His divine manifestations. He is Vishnu among the twelve Āditya-s. The twelve Āditya-s are Dhātā, Mitra, Aryamā, Indra, Varuṇa, Aṁśa, Bhaga, Vivasvān, Pūṣā, Savitā, Tvaṣṭā and Viṣṇu. They are also known as Dvādaśāditya-s (dvādasa means twelve). They are born to Aditi and aditi means boundless. Amongst the luminaries, the Lord says that He is the sun, as the sun alone reflects the Light of the Brahman. Other luminaries derive light from the sun for their functioning. Marut-s are the sons of Rudra and Pṛiśni. There are forty nine of them and known as storm gods. Best among Marut-s is Marīci. He is said to be in the form of a particle of light. Moon is the best amongst the stars and the natural satellite of the earth. Among the four Vedas, Sāma Veda is considered to be superior as it contains only verses and sung. Indra is the chief of gods and goddesses.

The Lord says that He is the mind among the organs of perception. Mind is considered as supreme as the mind is nothing but the power of the Brahman. Realising that mind is His power is realisation. Mind is the cause for both bondage and liberation and is the seat of faculty reasoning. Hence Krishna says that He is the mind among the organs of perception. Both mind and consciousness are the two important factors in Self-realisation. Consciousness alone has the capacity to manifest and His creation can be known only through the presence of consciousness. According to Dr. David R. Hawkins “from the Unmanifest to the Manifest, the energy of consciousness itself interacted with matter, and as an expression of Divinity, by that interaction life arose.” Therefore it is not surprising when Krishna says that He is the mind and the consciousness, the twin factors that are needed to realise Him in His true form.

Further Readings:

Bhagavad Gita Chapter X. 23 - 26

Bhagavad Gita Chapter X. 12 - 18

Bhagavad Gita Chapter X. 27 - 31