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Adhyāyas / Vibhūti Yogaḥ / verse 26

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
अश्वत्थः सर्ववृक्षाणां देवर्षीणां च नारदः। गन्धर्वाणां चित्ररथः सिद्धानां कपिलो मुनिः
aśhvatthaḥ sarva-vṛikṣhāṇāṁ devarṣhīṇāṁ cha nāradaḥ gandharvāṇāṁ chitrarathaḥ siddhānāṁ kapilo muniḥ
Anuṣṭubh(!!) irregular in source

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

Among all trees, I am the Ashvattha tree, and among divine sages, Narada. Among the Gandharvas, I am Citraratha; among the perfected ones, I am the sage Kapila.

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

मैं समस्त वृक्षों में अश्वत्थ (पीपल) हूँ और देवर्षियों में नारद हूँ; मैं गन्धर्वों में चित्ररथ और सिद्ध पुरुषों में कपिल मुनि हूँ।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
अश् वत् थस् सर्व वृक्षा णाम्
देवर् षीणाञ् च नारदः
गन् धर् वाणाञ् चित्र रथः (!!)
सिद् धानाङ् कपिलो मुनिः
॥ २६ ॥
Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →

Word by word

padārtha
aśhvatthaḥthe banyan tree
sarva-vṛikṣhāṇāmamongst all trees
deva-ṛiṣhīṇāmamongst celestial sages
chaand
nāradaḥNarad
gandharvāṇāmamongst the gandharvas
chitrarathaḥChitrarath
siddhānāmof all those who are perfected
kapilaḥ muniḥsage Kapil

Themes

from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad Gītā

Meaning — Questions & Solutions

from Q&A with KnA
10.21–10.38The list.

K runs through creation naming Himself as its summit in each order: among the Ādityas, Viṣṇu; among lights, the radiant sun; among the Vedas, the Sāma; among the gods, Indra; among the senses, the mind; of living beings, consciousness itself; among mountains, Meru; of priests, Bṛhaspati; of waters, the ocean; of words, the single syllable Om; of sacrifices, the japa-yajña; of the immovable, the Himālaya; of trees, the aśvattha; of rivers, the Ganges; of sciences, the science of the Self (adhyātma-vidyā). Two touches deserve note. First, He claims not only the noble but the ambiguous: “I am the gambling of the fraudulent” (dyūtaṃ chalayatām asmi) — even the cleverness of cheats is a spark of His power, misused. There is nothing anywhere, high or low, that is not some fraction of His energy. Second, He ends the list on the moral note: “I am the victory, I am the effort, I am the goodness of the good (sattvaṃ sattvavatām)” (10.36). The catalogue is a training exercise: whatever most excellent thing the mind lands on, it is bidden to see through it to the One whose splendour it is.