Bhagavad-gītā 10.37
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vāsudevaḥ
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Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā
Kṛṣṇa's own name — 'son of Vasudeva.' Of the Vṛṣṇi clan, Kṛṣṇa names Himself. The catalog's most direct moment: I, Vāsudeva, am Myself. A tautological vibhūti that breaks the pattern just enough to be noticed.
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dhanam - jayaḥ
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Arjuna
Compound: dhana (wealth) + jaya (conqueror). Arjuna's epithet from his digvijaya conquests. Kṛṣṇa names His audience as a vibhūti — collapsing speaker, listener, and topic into one teaching moment.
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vyāsaḥ
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Vyāsa, the compiler of all Vedic literature
The arranger of the Vedas, composer of the Mahābhārata, Bhāgavatam, and Brahma-sūtra. Among munis, supreme. Kṛṣṇa names the author of the very scripture that records this verse — a recursive moment of self-disclosure.
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uśanā
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Uśanā (Śukrācārya)
Among kavis (poet-seers, especially the ancient mantra-makers and statecraft-thinkers), Śukrācārya — guru of the demons — is the foremost. Kṛṣṇa picks him not for moral alignment but for piercing intellect. Brilliance, wherever housed, is His vibhūti.
Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Baladeva is Kṛṣṇa’s immediate expansion. Both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva appeared as sons of Vasudeva, so both of Them may be called Vāsudeva. From another point of view, because Kṛṣṇa never leaves Vṛndāvana, all the forms of Kṛṣṇa that appear elsewhere are His expansions. Vāsudeva is Kṛṣṇa’s immediate expansion, so Vāsudeva is not different from Kṛṣṇa. It is to be understood that the Vāsudeva referred to in this verse of Bhagavad-gītā is Baladeva, or Balarāma, because He is the original source of all incarnations and thus He is the sole source of Vāsudeva. The immediate expansions of the Lord are called svāṁśa (personal expansions), and there are also expansions called vibhinnāṁśa (separated expansions). Amongst the sons of Pāṇḍu, Arjuna is famous as Dhanañjaya. He is the best of men and therefore represents Kṛṣṇa. Among the munis, or learned men conversant in Vedic knowledge, Vyāsa is the greatest because he explained Vedic knowledge in many different ways for the understanding of the common mass of people in this Age of Kali. And Vyāsa is also known as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa; therefore Vyāsa also represents Kṛṣṇa. Kavis are those who are capable of thinking thoroughly on any subject matter. Among the kavis, Uśanā, Śukrācārya, was the spiritual master of the demons; he was an extremely intelligent and far-seeing politician. Thus Śukrācārya is another representative of the opulence of Kṛṣṇa.
Among the Vṛṣṇis, I am Vasudeva, who is My father. [Note: Baladeva says that Vāsudeva refers to Balarāma, since Vāsudeva usually means the son of Vasudeva. In either case, taking Vāsudeva as father or brother avoids making Kṛṣṇa his own vibhūti.] He is My vibhūti. The rule is given as follows: prajṣāditvāt (Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pāṇini 5.4.38). [Note: Vāsudeva usually means the son of Vasudeva. However sometimes by the rule given, Vāsudeva can simply mean Vasudeva.] Sometimes the long ā can have the same meaning as short a. The long ā is used to indicate self-interest. Others would propose that the meaning is “Among the Vṛṣṇis, I am Myself, the son of Vasudeva.” This however is not agreeable, as it does not mean anything.
Among the members of the Vṛṣṇi clan, I am the son of Vāsudeva known as Saṅkarṣana, or Balarāma. Vāsudeva in this context cannot mean Kṛṣṇa, because it is wrong to call His svarūpa a vibhūti. Though Vāmana, Kapila and others mentioned in this chapter as vibhūtis are directly the Lord, and thus the creators and destroyers of the material world, calling them vibhūtis is acceptable by meditating on their being avatāra expansions of Kṛṣṇa. It should be understood that the expansions, though non-different from Kṛṣṇa in potencies, do not manifest all of the potencies. Among the Pāṇḍavas, I am you, Arjuna, because you have the distinction of also being My avatāra, whereas the other Pāṇḍavas are not. Among those dedicated to contemplation of spiritual matters (munīnām), I am Vyāsa, Bādarāyaṇa, since He as the excellence of being My avatāra, unlike other munis. Among those who discern the subtle meaning of things, I am Śukra (Uśanas), [Note: He is the teacher of the asuras.] who is known as Kavi.
10.37 वृष्णीनाम among the Vrishnis? वासुदेवः Vaasudeva? अस्मि (I) am? पाण्डवानाम् among the Pandavas? धनञ्जयः Dhananjaya? मुनीनाम् among the sages? अपि also? अहम् I? व्यासः Vyasa? कवीनाम् among poets? उशनाः Usanas? कविः the poet.Commentary Vrishnis are Yadavas or the descendants of Yadu. I am the foremost among them.Usanas is Sukracharya? the preceptor of the demons.
- BG 10 37 - Sachinanadana Swami - Pula 1994-12-26 German
- BG 10 37 - Tulsi Priya Mataji - ISKCON Radhadesh 2012-10-26
- Priya Valabha Mataji BG 10-37-38 Hindi
- Ujjvala Rasajna Mataji BG 10-37
- UM BG 10-37 - Many Angles of Vision - 2016-07-28 Simacalam Germany
- Hari Lila Pr BG 10-37 Tamil
- Jitamitra Pr Hindi BG 10-37 - 2014-11-19
- Padaseva Pr BG 10-37 Oriya
- Rasika Govinda Pr BG 10-37 - 2017-10-27
- Rasika Govinda Pr BG 10-37 Tamil - 2017-10-27
- SDAP BG 10-37-38 - 2017-04-17 ISKCON Vrindavan
- Bhakti Vikas Sw BG 10-37 - Balarama Purnima - 2005-08-20 Moscow
- JAS BG 10-37-11-08 - 2006-12-15
- SNS BG 10-37 - 1994-12-26 Pula HR
- 2017-04-17 BG 10-37-38 - Sankarshan Pr ISKCON Vrindavan
- Honor Vyāsa, who compiled the Vedas.
- Read Vyāsa's works (Mahābhārata, Bhāgavatam) regularly.
- Treat the writers of scripture as Kṛṣṇa's specific opulences.
- When did I last read Vyāsa's Bhāgavatam?
- What renewed reading might offer?
Among His own clan, Himself; among Arjuna's family, Arjuna; among sages, the one who compiled the Vedas; among thinkers, the most piercing. Kṛṣṇa picks one name that is openly Himself, then names Arjuna by his own warrior-title — telling the listener, in code, that he too is a vibhūti of the Lord. The catalog has begun to include the audience.
At the start of Kali-yuga, knowing memory would weaken, Vyāsa divided the single Veda into four (Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma, Atharva), composed the eighteen Purāṇas, the Mahābhārata, the Brahma-sūtra, and finally the Bhāgavatam.
The scope of his work is so vast that the tradition speaks of him as an avatāra of the Lord. Kṛṣṇa names him here as 'munīnām vyāsaḥ' — among sages, Vyāsa. The compiler of all that the listener has ever read or will read is being named as Kṛṣṇa's vibhūti. The scripture is Kṛṣṇa announcing the author of scripture as Himself.
It is one of the Gītā's quiet jokes: Kṛṣṇa, listing His opulences to Arjuna, names Arjuna himself. 'Of the Pāṇḍavas I am Dhanañjaya' — the conqueror of wealth, Arjuna's title.
The listener is told he is a vibhūti of the speaker. This is not flattery but instruction: even Arjuna's qualities, his bow-skill, his fame, his lineage — all are Kṛṣṇa's vibhūti, and Arjuna must not claim them as his own. The verse converts Arjuna's identity into seva.
My note
Source: vedabase.io