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Bhagavad-gītā 11.39

वायुर्यमोऽग्न‍िर्वरुण: शशाङ्क: प्रजापतिस्त्वं प्रपितामहश्च । नमो नमस्तेऽस्तु सहस्रकृत्व: पुनश्च भूयोऽपि नमो नमस्ते ॥ ३९ ॥
vāyur yamo ’gnir varuṇaḥ śaśāṅkaḥ
[vaayur yamo ’gnir varunah shashaankah]
prajāpatis tvaṁ prapitāmahaś ca
[prajaapatis tvam prapitaamahash cha]
namo namas te ’stu sahasra-kṛtvaḥ
[namo namas te ’stu sahasra-kritvah]
punaś ca bhūyo ’pi namo namas te
[punash cha bhooyo ’pi namo namas te]
Word-for-word
vāyuḥ — air yamaḥ — the controller agniḥ — fire varuṇaḥ — water śaśa - aṅkaḥ — the moon prajāpatiḥ — Brahmā tvam — You prapitāmahaḥ — the great-grandfather ca — also namaḥ — my respects namaḥ — again my respects te — unto You astu — let there be sahasra - kṛtvaḥ — a thousand times punaḥ ca — and again bhūyaḥ — again api — also namaḥ — offering my respects namaḥ te — offering my respects unto You .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
vāyur yamo ’gnir varuṇaḥ śaśāṅkaḥ
vāyuḥ
air
yamaḥ
the controller
agniḥ
fire
varuṇaḥ
water
śaśa - aṅkaḥ
the moon
prajāpatis tvaṁ prapitāmahaś ca
prajāpatiḥ
Brahmā
tvam
You
prapitāmahaḥ
the great-grandfather
ca
also
namo namas te ’stu sahasra-kṛtvaḥ
namaḥ
my respects
namaḥ
again my respects
te
unto You
astu
let there be
sahasra - kṛtvaḥ
a thousand times
punaś ca bhūyo ’pi namo namas te
punaḥ ca
and again
bhūyaḥ
again
api
also
namaḥ
offering my respects
namaḥ te
offering my respects unto You .
Important Words
  • vāyuḥ — the wind-god
    Nominative. The deity Arjuna's own elder kinsman Bhīma was begotten of. Arjuna names a familiar relative as the Lord — even the most intimate cosmic ancestor is Kṛṣṇa.
  • yamaḥ — the lord of death
    Nominative. Yama, the dharma-rāja, the deity to whom Yudhiṣṭhira is owed his birth. Even the death-judge is named as Kṛṣṇa, which folds back into the kāla-asmi of 11.32.
  • agniḥ — fire
    Nominative. The deva who carries oblations to the gods. By identifying Kṛṣṇa with Agni, Arjuna identifies Him with the very medium of all sacrifice.
  • varuṇaḥ — the lord of waters
    Nominative. The deity of cosmic ṛta and of the oceanic vault. By naming Varuṇa, Arjuna acknowledges Kṛṣṇa as guardian of order itself.
  • prapitāmahaḥ — the great-grandfather
    Nominative — pra (beyond) + pitāmaha (grandfather). The grandfather of the grandfather. Arjuna places Kṛṣṇa not just at the head of one genealogy but two steps further back.
  • sahasra - kṛtvaḥ — a thousand times
    Adverbial compound — 'a thousand-fold.' The number does not measure; it abandons measure. Arjuna offers obeisance more times than he can count and asks to keep offering.
You are air, and You are the supreme controller! You are fire, You are water, and You are the moon! You are Brahmā, the first living creature, and You are the great-grandfather. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You a thousand times, and again and yet again!
Classical Sanskrit analysis शास्त्रीय विश्लेषण
How Sanskrit scholars read this verse — split, rearranged, grammar-tagged. For the plain English distilled meaning, jump to Plain meaning below.
Auto-generated study layers — original analysis of the public-domain śloka. Review against a published edition for academic work.
Plain meaning (तात्पर्य · Tātparya)
Arjuna identifies Kṛṣṇa with the principal Vedic devatās — air, death, fire, water, moon, primal progenitor, even great-grandfather (Brahmā's father). The doubled-and-redoubled 'namo namaḥ' enacts overflow: words cannot keep up with the reverence.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
Compresses the vibhūti-catalog of ch. 10 into a single identification. 'Prapitāmaha' relativizes Brahmā (who is 'pitāmaha' of the world) below Kṛṣṇa. The rhetorical reduplication is a stotra-convention; rasa-theory calls this 'puruṣārtha-stuti' — praise so overwhelmed it loops.
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
त्वं वायुः, यमः, अग्निः, वरुणः, शशाङ्कः, प्रजा-पतिः, प्र-पितामहः च; ते सहस्र-कृत्वः नमः नमः अस्तु; पुनः च भूयः अपि ते नमः नमः ।
tvaṃ vāyuḥ, yamaḥ, agniḥ, varuṇaḥ, śaśāṅkaḥ, prajā-patiḥ, pra-pitāmahaḥ ca; te sahasra-kṛtvaḥ namaḥ namaḥ astu; punaḥ ca bhūyaḥ api te namaḥ namaḥ |
You are Vāyu, Yama, Agni, Varuṇa, the Moon, Prajāpati, and the great-grandfather. May there be salutation, salutation to You — a thousandfold; and again and yet again, salutation, salutation to You.
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
वायुः यमः अग्निः वरुणः शशाङ्कः प्रजा-पतिः त्वं प्र-पितामहः च । नमः नमः ते अस्तु सहस्र-कृत्वः पुनः च भूयः अपि नमः नमः ते ॥
vāyuḥ yamaḥ agniḥ varuṇaḥ śaśāṅkaḥ prajā-patiḥ tvaṃ pra-pitāmahaḥ ca | namaḥ namaḥ te astu sahasra-kṛtvaḥ punaḥ ca bhūyaḥ api namaḥ namaḥ te ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
वायुः vāyuḥ वायु (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) Vāyu (wind)
यमः yamaḥ यम (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) Yama (death)
अग्निः agniḥ अग्नि (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) Agni (fire)
वरुणः varuṇaḥ वरुण (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) Varuṇa (waters)
शशाङ्कः śaśāṅkaḥ शशाङ्क (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular), bahuvrīhi cpd. ('hare-marked') the Moon
प्रजा-पतिः prajā-patiḥ प्रजा (f.) + पति (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular), tatpuruṣa cpd. (compound) Prajāpati
त्वम् tvam युष्मद् (pron. (pronoun)) nom.sg. (nominative singular) You
प्र-पितामहः pra-pitāmahaḥ प्र + पितामह (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular), tatpuruṣa cpd. (compound) great-grandfather
च ca ind. (indeclinable) and
नमः namaḥ नमस् (n.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) salutation
ते te युष्मद् (pron. (pronoun)) dat.sg. (dative singular) to You
अस्तु astu √अस् impv. 3sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) let (it) be
सहस्र-कृत्वः sahasra-kṛtvaḥ सहस्र (n.) + कृत्वस् (suffix) ind. (indeclinable), adv. a thousand times
पुनः punaḥ ind. (indeclinable), adv. again
भूयः bhūyaḥ ind. (indeclinable), adv. still more, further
अपि api ind. (indeclinable) also
Purport

The Lord is addressed here as air because the air is the most important representation of all the demigods, being all-pervasive. Arjuna also addresses Kṛṣṇa as the great-grandfather because He is the father of Brahmā, the first living creature in the universe.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
39. You are Vāyu, Yama, Agni, Varuṇa, the moon, Prajāpati, and the great grandfather. I offer respects to You a thousand times, and again I offer respects to You.
Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
39. You are Vāyu, Yama, Agni, Varuṇa, the moon, Brahmā, and the father of Brahmā. I offer respects to You a thousand times, and again I offer respects to You.
Commentary

All words describe only You. You are all devatās, represented by the list from Vāyu to the moon god. You are Brahmā (prajāpati). Brahmā is the grandfather and You are his father, so you are the great grandfather. All these forms are You, since You are spread out in Vāyu and others by being their cause, since you are the possessor of spiritual and material energies. You are like gold spread in bangles and other objects made of gold. Since You are worthy of respect by all, I offer respects to You. A thousand times I offer respects to You, and again I offer respects to You.

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

Arjuna in so much reverence by seeing this universal form, wants to offer Krsna something. But Krsna is everything, so he can't find anything to offer Him. So he chooses to offer Krsna his respectful obeisances.

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

COMMON THEME: Arjuna prays in faltering voice

In which mood – as a devotee in the mood of ‘wonder’ (11.35)

PLEASE NOTE: The mains points refer to Arjuna’s Prayers. The subpoints include all points of the purports; as such

there are no individual ‘Focus of Learning’ sections for these verses.

ARJUNA’S PRAYERS

(a) Arjuna recognizes Krishna’s action as All-good for everyone after hearing from Krishna the outcome of

battlefield and observing Universal form and response of demigods and demons (11.36)

The world becomes joyful on hearing Your name and everyone becomes attached to You
You are worshiped by great souls and demons are afraid and flee away

(b) Krishna is worshipable by everyone – “You rightly deserve the obeisances of everyone” (11.37)

because:

You are the God of all the Gods, the original creator, especially even greater than Brahma, secondary creator
Invincible source of all and cause of all causes
Transcendental to material manifestations
‘Aksaram’ – not perishable like material creation)
‘Mahatma’ – Most magnanimous and unlimited
‘Ananta’ – Nothing is not covered by Lord’s influence and energy
‘Devesa’ – He is the controller of demigods and is above them all

(c) You are the ultimate rest of everything and all knowledge (11.38)

‘Nidhanam’ – Ultimate rest even from Brahman.
Knower of everything in this world and You are all that is knowable
Object of all knowledge because You are All pervading

(d) You are the essence of everything (11.39)

You are air (Air being all-pervasive is the most important representation of the demigods)
You are fire, water, moon
You are Brahma (Pitamaha) / You are Prapitamaha (because He is the father of Brahmaji)
You are the Supreme controller

(e) I offer you obeisances from front, behind and from all sides (11.40)

Arjuna is offering obeisances out of loving ecstasy, accepting that ‘’He is the master of limitless power’’ and ‘’He is far superior to all the great warriors assembled on the battlefield’’ (Ref. Visnu Purana – All have been created by you, any demigod or anyone)

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF SECTION IV

Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord of all. He is simultaneously

involved in an intimate relationship of love with His pure devotees

ARJUNA’S PRAYERS continued…

(f) Begs forgiveness for treating Krishna, the Infallible One, as an ordinary friend (11.41* – 11.42*)

Not knowing Krishna’s glories, Arjuna feels that he has offended Krishna in ‘madness’ or in ‘love’, and begs to be excused for many informal gestures like,
Called Krishna as Yadava or Krishna or dishonoured him many times.
Jesting as we relaxed
Lay on the same bed / sat / ate together
Never knew Krishna could accept such a Universal form
Cannot forget the relationship of a friend – The relationship between a living-entity and Krishna is fixed eternally, it cannot be forgotten, as evident from Arjuna’s behaviour

(g) You are the supreme father (11.43)

Supreme spiritual master – Gave this knowledge to Brahma / Arjuna
You are the greatest – No-one is greater than or equal to You nor can anyone be one with You. References for Lord’s Supreme greatness:
No difference between Krishna’s body and self (Ref. Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.8)
Senses are interchangeable
Birth and activities are transcendental (Bg. 4.9)
Krishna is one God – All the living entities are His servants, no-one can deny His order (Ref. CC “ekale ishvara...”)
Cause of all causes (Ref. Brahma Samhita 5.1)

(h) Falls to the ground and begs for mercy – Requests Him to tolerate all wrong-doings (11.44) just like –

Analogies:

Father – Tolerates the impudence of his son
Friend – Impertinence of a friend
“Krishna – Arjuna” relationship is that of friendship
Wife – Familiarity of her partner

(i) Requests to withdraw the fearsome Form and reveal the form as Personality of Godhead (11.45)

Indicates Arjuna is ‘afraid’ and ‘joyful’ simultaneously
Afraid because of so many offenses committed
Joyful because He is gladdened by knowing his Friend’s opulence as Supreme Personality of Godhead and His ability to show the Universal Form
It proves that Krishna can assume any form, as He is asked here to show His Narayana Form
Universal Form is a temporary Form; but Vaikuntha form is transcendental, four-handed and eternal.
Different Narayanas are named according to the different configurations of the four hands
Arjuna’s request to see the four-handed form indicates that All the forms are one with Krishna

(j) Wants to see the four-handed form (11.46)

Texts 11.45 & 11.46 indicate that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and He is the source of all forms and incarnations (Ref. Brahma Samhita 5.39)
This verse establishes without any doubt the statement of Srimad Bhagavatam that Krishna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead
Constant feature in these forms – He is always fresh like a young man
He is non-different from His plenary expansions
He is God in any of His innumerable forms
Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
11.39 You are vayuh, Air; yamah, Death; and agnih, Fire; varunah, the god of the waters; sasankah, the moon; prajapatih, the Lord of the creatures- Kasyapa and others [See note on p.2.-Tr.]; and pra-pitamahah, the Great-grandfather, i.e. the Father ever of Brahma (Hiranyagarbha). Namo, salutations; namah, salutation; astu, be; te, to You; sahasra-krtvah, a thousand times. Punah ca bhuyah api namo te, salutation to You again and again; namah, salutation! The suffix krtvasuc (after sahasra) indicates performance and repetition of the act of salutation a number of times. The words punah ca bhuyah api (again and again) indicate his own dissatisfaction [Dissatisfaction with only a few salutations.] owing to abundance of reverence and devotion. So also,
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
11.39 You alone are the great-grandsire of all and also grandfather etc. The Prajapatis are the fathers of all creatures. Hiranyagarbha (Brahma), the father of the Prajapatis, is the grandsire of all creatures. You, being the father of even Hiranyagarbha, are great grandfather of all creatures. You alone are denoted by the several terms by which these beings are known. Such is the meaning. Beholding the Lord in a most marvellous form, Arjuna, bent with great awe, saluted Him from all sides with his eyes widely open from joy.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
11.39 See comment under 11.40.
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
11.39 Thou art Vayu, Yama, Agni, Varuna, the moon, the Creator, and the great-grandfather. Salutations, salutations unto Thee, a thousand times, and again salutations, salutations unto Thee.
Commentary

11.39 वायुः Vayu? यमः Yama? अग्निः Agni? वरुणः Varuna? शशाङ्कः moon? प्रजापतिः Prajapati? त्वम् Thou? प्रपितामहः greatgrandfather? च and? नमःनमः salutations? ते to Thee? अस्तु be? सहस्रकृत्वः thousand times? पुनः again? च and? भूयः again? अपि also ? नमःनमः salutations? ते to Thee.Commentary Prajapati Marichi and others were the seven mindborn sons of Brahma. Kasyapa descended from Marichi and from Kasyapa came all other progeny. Therefore? Marichi? Kasyapa and others are known as Prajapatis or the gods or progeny. The word Prajapati here is interpreted by some as Kasyapa and other Prajapatis. But as the word has been used here in the singular number it is appropriate to take Brahma as Prajapati. Brahma is the grandfather (Pitamaha) of Kasyapa. Brahma or the Hiranyagarbha is the Karya Brahman (effect). Isvara is the Karana Brahman (the cause for Brahma). Therefore? Isvara is the greatgrandfather. He is the father of,even Brahma.Isvara has Maya as the limiting adjunct. Maya is His causal body. Isvara has no plane. Maya is in an undifferentiated state. She is in a state where the alities of Nature (Gunas) are in eilibrium. When the eilibrium is disturbed through the will of Isvara? the three Gunas? Brahma? Vishnu and Siva manifest.Thou art the moon alludes to and includes the sun also.Punah? Bhuyah Again. Salutations a thousand times and again salutations. This indicates that Arjuna had intense faith in and boundless devotion for Lord Krishna. He was not satisfied even if he prostrated himself a thousand times.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
11.39 You are Air, Death, Fire, the god of the waters, the moon, the Lord of the creatures, and the Greater-grandfather. Salutations! Salutation be to You a thousand times; salutation to You again and again! Salutation!
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
11.39 Thou art the Wind, Thou art Death, Thou art the Fire, the Water, the Moon, the Father and the Grandfather. Honour and glory to Thee a thousand and a thousand times! Again and again, salutation be to Thee, O my Lord!
Related values & verses
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)
Related verses
BG 7.8 BG 9.16 BG 10.21 SB 2.5.25 SB 3.26.32 SB 10.87.15 CC Madhya 20.280 CC Madhya 20.291 CC Madhya 21.83 Īśa Upaniṣad 16 Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 2.1.4
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
You are Vāyu, Yama, Agni, Varuṇa, the moon, Brahmā, the great-grandfather — obeisances a thousand times, again and again.
Practical Applications
  • Multiply your obeisances; once is not enough.
  • Use prostration as bodily prayer.
  • Repeat as Arjuna does.
Reflection Questions
  • When was my last full prostration?
  • What does the body know that the mind doesn't?
Analogy

Tour a city long enough and you discover that the water-bearer, the watchman, the gardener, and the silver-haired grandfather of the household are all the same person seen in different roles. Arjuna says: every cosmic functionary I have ever offered oblation to — Vāyu, Yama, Agni, Varuṇa, Candra, Brahmā — is You.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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