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Adhyāyas / Vibhūti Yogaḥ / verse 38

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
दण्डो दमयतामस्मि नीतिरस्मि जिगीषताम्। मौनं चैवास्मि गुह्यानां ज्ञानं ज्ञानवतामहम्
daṇḍo damayatām asmi nītir asmi jigīṣhatām maunaṁ chaivāsmi guhyānāṁ jñānaṁ jñānavatām aham
Anuṣṭubh

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

Of the punishers, I am the rod; I am the righteous policy of those who desire to conquer. And of things secret, I am verily silence; I am the knowledge of the wise.

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

मैं दमन करने वालों का दण्ड हूँ और विजयेच्छुओं की नीति हूँ; मैं गुह्यों में मौन हूँ और ज्ञानवानों का ज्ञान हूँ।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
दण् डो दमय तामस् मि
नीति रस्मि जिगी षताम्
मौनञ् चैवास् मि गुह् यानाम्
ज्ञानञ् ज्ञान वता महम्
॥ ३८ ॥
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
daṇḍaḥpunishment
damayatāmamongst means of preventing lawlessness
asmiI am
nītiḥproper conduct
asmiI am
jigīṣhatāmamongst those who seek victory
maunamsilence
chaand
evaalso
asmiI am
guhyānāmamongst secrets
jñānamwisdom
jñāna-vatāmin the wise
ahamI

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.