Mūla — the verse
Gita Press numberingTranslation
Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣyaOf the purifiers, I am the air; among the wielders of weapons, I am Rama. Among fishes, I am the shark; among rivers, I am Ganga.
हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda
मैं पवित्र करने वालों में वायु हूँ और शस्त्रधारियों में राम हूँ; तथा मत्स्यों (जलचरों) में मैं मगरमच्छ और नदियों में मैं गंगा हूँ।।
Pronunciation — Vaamshii
from VaamshiiWord by word
padārthaThemes
from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad GītāMeaning — Questions & Solutions
from Q&A with KnAK 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.