Bhagavad-gītā 10.15
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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ātmanā
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by Yourself
Instrumental of ātman. The means of Kṛṣṇa's self-knowledge is His own self — not borrowed senses, not external instruments. He knows by being, not by perceiving.
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ātmānam
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Yourself
Accusative of ātman. The same root recurs in three cases in this verse (ātmā-ātmanā-ātmānam in the original), creating an emphatic loop: the Self knows the Self by the Self alone.
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puruṣa - uttama
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O greatest of all persons
Vocative compound: puruṣa (person) + uttama (highest). The same title used in chapter 15 to distinguish Kṛṣṇa from the kṣara and akṣara puruṣas. Arjuna places Kṛṣṇa at the top of every personal category.
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bhūta - bhāvana
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O origin of everything
Compound vocative: bhūta (beings) + bhāvana (one who brings into being). Names Kṛṣṇa's role as cosmic generator — picking up the prabhavaḥ-thread from verse 8.
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deva - deva
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O Lord of all demigods
Vocative reduplication. Not 'one god' but 'the god of gods.' Arjuna stacks his addresses so each one closes a possible misreading.
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jagat - pate
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O Lord of the entire universe
Vocative compound: jagat (moving universe) + pati (lord, master). Spatial range — every realm has Kṛṣṇa as its master. With the previous addresses, all of personhood, divinity, and cosmos are placed under Him.
The Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, can be known by persons who are in a relationship with Him through the discharge of devotional service, like Arjuna and his followers. Persons of demonic or atheistic mentality cannot know Kṛṣṇa. Mental speculation that leads one away from the Supreme Lord is a serious sin, and one who does not know Kṛṣṇa should not try to comment on Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā is the statement of Kṛṣṇa, and since it is the science of Kṛṣṇa, it should be understood from Kṛṣṇa as Arjuna understood it. It should not be received from atheistic persons. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.11) : vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate The Supreme Truth is realized in three aspects: as impersonal Brahman, localized Paramātmā and at last as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So at the last stage of understanding the Absolute Truth, one comes to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A common man or even a liberated man who has realized impersonal Brahman or localized Paramātmā may not understand God’s personality. Such men, therefore, may endeavor to understand the Supreme Person from the verses of Bhagavad-gītā, which are being spoken by this person, Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes the impersonalists accept Kṛṣṇa as Bhagavān, or they accept His authority. Yet many liberated persons cannot understand Kṛṣṇa as Puruṣottama, the Supreme Person. Therefore Arjuna addresses Him as Puruṣottama. Yet one still may not understand that Kṛṣṇa is the father of all living entities. Therefore Arjuna addresses Him as Bhūta-bhāvana. And if one comes to know Him as the father of all the living entities, still one may not know Him as the supreme controller; therefore He is addressed here as Bhūteśa, the supreme controller of everyone. And even if one knows Kṛṣṇa as the supreme controller of all living entities, still one may not know that He is the origin of all the demigods; therefore He is addressed herein as Deva-deva, the worshipful God of all demigods. And even if one knows Him as the worshipful God of all demigods, one may not know that He is the supreme proprietor of everything; therefore He is addressed as Jagat-pati. Thus the truth about Kṛṣṇa is established in this verse by the realization of Arjuna, and we should follow in the footsteps of Arjuna to understand Kṛṣṇa as He is.
Therefore, You alone know about Yourself. Your devotee knows that actually You do have birth and are also without birth, though such a condition is difficult to exist. But he also does not know by which method it can happen. You alone (eva) know that. You know through Yourself (ātmanā) alone, not through any other means. Therefore, among all the puruṣa avatāras, who are creators of the mahat-tattva and other elements, You are supreme (uttama). Not only are You supreme among them. You are the lord of those lords up to Brahmā, who have become the creators of all material bodies (bhūtā-bhāvana-bhūteśa). Not only are You the lord of all of them, You are also the performer of pastimes (deva ), [Note: The word deva comes from the root div and means “one who plays.”] taking the devas as instruments in Your pastimes (deva-deva ). Moreover, out of Your infinite mercy, You are the master of those like me (just a dāsa) dwelling within the universe (jagat-pate). All four of these terms starting with puruṣottama and ending with jagat-pate are in the vocative case. Another meaning is as follows. These words may be taken as terms describing the nature of being the supreme person (puruṣottama). You are father of all creatures (bhūtā-bhāvana). But since sometimes a father is not respected, Arjuna says “You are the controller of all creatures (bhūteśa).” But sometimes even a controller is not so worthy of worship. Therefore he says “You are the deva among all the devas.” Though the devas are worshipable, sometimes they do not give protection. Therefore he says “You are the protector of the universe (jagat-pate).”
You know completely about Yourself by Your own power of knowledge. Those who are devotees among the devas and dānavas substantially known Your form as described, but they do not know that form as it really is. That is suggested by the word eva. O Lord of all people (puruṣottama)! Further delineating His lordship of all people, Arjuna continues to address Kṛṣṇa. O Source of all creatures (bhūta bhāvana)! Though He is the source, He may not be respected. Therefore he says, O controller of all living beings (bhūteśa)! Although He is the controller, He may not be worthy of worship. Therefore Arjuna says, O person who is worshipped by those who are worthy of worship (devadeva)! Though a person is worthy of worship, He may not protect others. Therefore he says, O one who protect of the universe, by giving means of livelihood and teachings to both the good and evil people (jagat pate)! In this way Your true nature has been described perfectly.
Here Arjuna calls Krsna, 'Purusuttama', which means Supreme Person. But He Himself, the Supreme Person, is the only one who knows Himself completely. And then after describing Krsna as the Supreme Person, Arjuna uses many adjectives to glorify that Supreme Person. He call Him: 'the origin of all', 'the creator', 'Lord of everything', 'the controller', 'the Lord of the universe', 'the protector' ...etc. In this way Arjuna is glorifying Krsna and taking shelter of Him.
[2. Arjuna asks Krsna of His opulences so he can always think of and remember Krsna. (16‑18) ]
‘Tell me more’ – In the next 5 verses (10.15 – 10.19) Arjuna asks Krishna to tell him more of His glories
10.15 स्वयम् Thyself? एव only? आत्मना by Thyself? आत्मानम् Thyself? वेत्थ (Thou) knowest? त्वम् Thou? पुरुषोत्तम O Purusha Supreme? भूतभावन O source of beings? भूतेश O Lord of beings? देवदेव O God of,gods? जगत्पते O ruler of the world.Commentary Purushottama means the best among all Purushas. He assumes the four forms? viz.? the source of beings? the Lord of beings? God of gods and ruler of the world. Hence He is called Purushottama.Devadeva is He who is worshipped even by Indra and other gods.Jagatpati The Lord protects the world and guides the people through the instructions given in the Vedas. Hence the name ruler of the world.
- BG 10 14-15 - Murari Gupta Prabhu - ISKCON Chowpatty 2009-09-29
- BG 10 15 - Bhakta Marc - ISKCON Radhadesh 2012-10-04
- BG 10 15 - Nagaraja Prabhu ISKCON Alachua 2014-02-02
- BG 10 15 - Sridhar Swami - Zagreb 1997-10-29
- BG 10 15 - Vedavyasa Priya Swami - Melbourne 2008-09-22
- BG 10 15 - Vijay Prabhu - 2008-02-01
- Ujjvala Rasajna Mataji BG 10-15
- Jitamitra Pr Hindi BG 10-15
- Radhe Shyam Pr BG 10-15-17
- Rasika Govinda Pr BG 10-15 - 2017-10-03
- Rasika Govinda Pr BG 10-15 Tamil - 2017-10-03
- Sarvabhauma Pr Hindi BG 10-15 - Onward - 2020
- Shubha Krishna Pr BG 10-15 Hindi
- Vijaya Pr BG 10-15 - 2008-02-01
- BVijnanaGS English 2004-05-12 BG 10-15 USA
- CMS BG 10-15 Slovenian Translation - Kaj ti pomaga znanje %C4%8De ne ve%C5%A1 da je Kri%C5%A1na Vrhovna bo%C5%BEanska osebnost - 2021-06-11 ISKCON Slovenia
- CMS BG 10-15 - What is the use of knowledge if you don%27t know that Krishna is Supreme personality of Godhead - 2021-06-11 ISKCON Slovenia
- Sridhar Sw BG 10-15 - Choosing the authority - Zagreb 1997-10-29
- VedavyasaPSW BG 10-15 - 2008-09-22 Melbourne
- RSP BG 10-15-17
- Acknowledge that He alone fully knows Himself.
- Approach Him through Himself, not through speculation.
- Use scripture as His self-revelation.
- Where am I trying to know Him by other means than His self-revelation?
- What scripture am I underusing?
Only the sun can see itself by its own light; every other vision of the sun is borrowed and partial. So only Kṛṣṇa, by His own internal potency, fully knows Himself — and any glimpse the rest of us receive is a gift He chooses to give, never a discovery we make.
After his calf-stealing episode (see verse 2), Brahmā stood before the boy-Kṛṣṇa and offered the Brahmā-stuti. The opening note was confession: 'I do not know You.' The creator of the universe, born from Viṣṇu's navel, acknowledged that the One in front of him exceeded his own founding intelligence.
Arjuna's verse here echoes Brahmā's posture. Svayam evātmanātmānam vettha — only You know Yourself. It is not flattery. It is the structural truth of the relationship between created and uncreated.
My note
Source: vedabase.io