📿 Shloka Collection

Aham Atma Gudakesha

Gita 10.20 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 10 — Vibhuti Yoga
अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः ।
अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च ॥
Aham atma gudakesha sarvabhootashayasthitah,
Aham adishcha madhyam cha bhootanam anta eva cha.
अहम्
I am
आत्मा
the Self — the Atman
गुडाकेश
O Gudakesha (conqueror of sleep — Arjuna)
सर्वभूताशयस्थितः
seated in the heart of all beings
आदिः
the beginning
and
मध्यम्
the middle
भूतानाम्
of all beings
अन्तः
the end
एव
indeed

Before listing any specific manifestation, Krishna states the most fundamental truth. I am the Self seated in the heart of every being. Not somewhere far away. Not in a particular temple or heaven. Inside every living creature. That is the starting point of the entire vibhuti catalogue.

Then the scope widens further. I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings. Birth comes from the divine. Life is sustained by the divine. And at death, the being returns to the divine. Like clay that is shaped into a pot, serves its purpose as a pot, and when the pot breaks, returns to being clay again.

The address Gudakesha — conqueror of sleep — honours Arjuna's alertness and courage. Krishna is sharing the deepest knowledge with the most wakeful of his companions.

This shloka marks the formal beginning of the vibhuti catalogue in Chapter 10 (Vibhuti Yoga). Arjuna had asked Krishna: in which forms do You pervade the world? From 10.20 through 10.42, Krishna answers with specific examples.

This shloka serves as the foundation. The specific vibhutis (sun, moon, rivers, mountains) are illustrations of this underlying truth: the Self in all beings.

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