BG 10.18 — Vibhūti-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 10.18Chapter 10 · Vibhūti-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

विस्तरेणात्मनो योगं विभूतिं च जनार्दन ।

भूयः कथय तृप्तिर् हि शृण्वतो नास्ति मे ऽमृतम् ॥

vistareṇātmano yogaṃ vibhūtiṃ ca janārdana

bhūyaḥ kathaya tṛptir hi śṛṇvato nāsti me 'mṛtam

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Tell me more, Janārdana, tell me again at length about your yoga and your glory, for I cannot get enough of this nectar you pour.

ekras · bhāṣya

Tell me again, in detail, of your yoga and vibhuti, Janardana. There is no satisfaction for me in hearing this amrita. Tripti — satisfaction — is what does not arrive. Amrita — nectar — is what the teaching is to the listener. The verse is the bhakta's confession: the more he hears, the more he wants.

Shankara reads the verse precisely. Vistarena — in detail — names the disciple's request for full elaboration, not summary. Bhuyah — again — confirms what Arjuna already heard in chapters 7 and 9 and asks for more. Triptih na asti shrinvatah — there is no satiation for the listener.

Krishna's words are amrita to the bhakta; the bhakta's hunger does not diminish with feeding. The verse is structurally the disciple's permission for the chapter's expansion.

Madhusudana reads the verse as the bhakta's signature confession. The amrita-quality of Krishna's word is its capacity to feed without exhausting hunger; ordinary food satiates, but Krishna's self-disclosure deepens the longing it answers. Vistarena is the disciple's specific request for unfolding rather than compression; the chapter responds with the long catalog.

Ramanuja reads with characteristic relational warmth. The address Janardana — destroyer of ignorance — is precisely calibrated: the disciple addresses Krishna by the name that promises the answer. Tripti na asti is not lack but plenitude: the bhakta who has tasted the amrita has found the only thing he wants.

Madhva reads the request precisely. The eternally distinct jiva, having been graced with prior teaching, asks Hari for further disclosure. The amrita is Hari's word; the unsatiable hunger is the sign of correct orientation.

Vallabha reads with pushti-marga's recognition: the prasada flows; the bhakta's incapacity for tripti is the prasada itself working through him; the request is part of the flow.

Shridhara reads the verse cleanly: vistarena — at length — is the request; amrita is what the listener has been receiving.

Context

where

Chapter 10 · Vibhūti-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 10.17

How can I know you, always meditating on you, and in which objects should I contemplate you, O Bhagavān?

What's going on

Tell me more, Janārdana, tell me again at length about your yoga and your glory, for I cannot get enough of this nectar you pour.

Sūtras through this verse (21)

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

10.8Source of all. Most-cited.───→here10.18───→10.20Self in every heart.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned alonebetween

10.11I dispel the dark of unknowing for them.───→here10.18───→18.65By My grace, you reach Me through what is given.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerapproach

───→here10.18───→11.8The eye is given; seeing is grace.

show all 21

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

9.29Equal to all───→here10.18───→10.36Sattva of the strong

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

10.1His glory becomes the chapter's evidence.───→here10.18───→11.1The aiśvarya-delusion now to be removed.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

10.10I give the buddhi-yoga to those who love.───→here10.18───→11.54Undivided love beholds it.

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminbetween

10.8Proposition: I source all.───→here10.18───→10.19Case list begins now.

Ekrasmodernforgiveness

Forgivenessapproach · other

───→here10.18───→12.13Friendly, compassionate

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourexit · v2

8.12Om at the close───→here10.18───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayexit

9.32Women, śūdras, all, also reach the goal.───→here10.18───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingexit

8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.───→here10.18───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitexit

8.14Remembrance comes only from constant daily practice.───→here10.18───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

10.1Royal knowledge, royal secret, Kāśirāja.───→here10.18───→11.1I worship the unborn, the self-luminous teacher.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

10.8From Me everything flows; wise ones know this and worship.───→here10.18───→11.55The crystal verse names the saguṇa in absolute form.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

9.4The world rests in Me, not Me in the world.───→here10.18───→10.20I am the Self in every heart.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here10.18───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalC

Vision is the structural centerstation

───→here10.18───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingbetween

9.13The great know Me as beginning of beings.───→here10.18───→10.42With one part I pervade this whole world, and stand.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

9.24Receiver of every rite is the indweller alone.───→here10.18───→10.20I am the Self seated in every heart.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlybetween

10.14Faith comes only from the Lord's own giving.───→here10.18───→11.55Grace-soul acts only when the Lord wills.

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralexit

8.6'Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam.' Whatever state of being one remembers at the last ───→here10.18───→

Śabda · lemmas (15 unique · 15 occurrences)

विस्तरेण vistara — extension, detail, expansion (vi- + √stṛ) · instrumental masculine singular noun
जनार्दन janārdana — rouser of people (epithet of Kṛṣṇa: jana + √ard) · vocative masculine singular noun · also at 1.36, 1.39, 1.44, 3.1, 3.2, 11.51

show all 15

आत्मनः ātman — the Self, soul; one's own self · genitive masculine singular noun
योगम् yoga — yoga; union, discipline, application · accusative masculine singular noun
विभूतिम् vibhūti — manifestation, glory, supernatural power (vi- + √bhū) · accusative feminine singular noun
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
भूयस् bhūyas — more, again, abundantly
कथय √kathay — to tell, narrate (causative of √kath) · present imperative 2nd person singular verb
तृप्तिः tṛpti — satisfaction, contentment (from √tṛp) · nominative feminine singular noun
हि hi — for, indeed, because (particle)
शृण्वतः √śru — to hear (verbal root) · genitive masculine singular present participle verb
न na — not (negation particle)
अस्ति √as — to be (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
मे mad — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · genitive singular noun
अमृतम् amṛta — immortal, the deathless, nectar (a- + mṛta past-pple. 'died', from √mṛ) · accusative neuter singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01What is the difference between tṛpti (satiation) and tṛṣṇā (craving) when both leave the listener wanting more — and which one characterizes Arjuna's state here?
02If vibhūti is a meditation support (dhyānālambana per Madhusūdana), what distinguishes meditating on a vibhūti from meditating on an idol or symbol — what makes it Kṛṣṇa's self-disclosure rather than a projection?

show all 7

03Madhva devotes the entire comment to unpacking a single epithet (Janārdana). What does it mean that the name of the asked carries the whole answer — that the one who afflicts saṃsāra is the one now invited to speak further about his power?
04Śrīdhara says even a bahirmukha (outward-turned) mind can use vibhūti-lists as anchors for tac-cintā. Does this dilute meditation or democratize it — and does it matter which?
05Rāmānuja inserts 'mama atṛptiḥ tvayā eva viditā' — Bhagavān already knows my thirst. What is the consequence of being fully known by the object of your longing, and how does that differ from the Advaita framing where the knower and the known ultimately collapse?
06Vallabha reads the insatiability as a sign of prasāda — grace signaling through the asking. How does one distinguish authentic insatiability-as-grace from compulsive repetition that mistakes movement for depth?
07The verse uses the word amṛta (immortal, nectar) for Kṛṣṇa's speech. Madhusūdana identifies a rhetorical collapse: the speech does not merely resemble nectar, it IS nectar. What becomes possible — in practice, in study, in relationship — when you treat your teacher's words as literally nectarous rather than merely instructive?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you return to a text or teacher you have already studied and find you are not satisfied — do not conclude you missed something the first time. Śaṅkara's framing treats this unsatiation as evidence the object is inexhaustible, not that the student was inattentive. Use the returning itself as the practice: each re-reading is a recalibration of the meditating mind toward an object that cannot be exhausted.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

In a relationship of deep trust — with a mentor, a beloved, or a community — allow yourself to be fully legible. Rāmānuja's phrase 'my unsatisfied longing is already known to you' points to the relief of not performing contentment. In your closest relationships, practice the disclosure: 'I have not had enough of this conversation yet' — and notice whether the other can hold that without fixing it.

show all 6

Dvaita

Madhva's commentary is entirely about the name. When you address someone — a colleague, a parent, a deity — you are already making a claim about what they are. Pay attention to the names you use in petition. The name Janārdana means 'the one who afflicts saṃsāra-bound creatures' is also the one you ask for more. Sit with the vertigo: the one you implore for expansion is the one whose nature is to disrupt complacency.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's reading: you have been made into a meditator by what you love, not by your own effort. If you find yourself returning again and again to a question, a practice, a creative problem — take it as a sign that the love constituted you for this, not that you are being compulsive. The asking is already the answer's first movement.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's practical gift: for a distracted mind, vibhūti-lists are not doctrine — they are anchors. When the mind skitters across surfaces during the day, name the Kṛṣṇa-quality in what you see: the excellence in a craftsman's hand, the patience in a teacher's repeat, the abundance in a kitchen. Each naming is a micro-return to tac-cintā.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana identifies a rhetorical sleight: 'his speech is amṛta' is not a simile but an identity. Test this in your own practice: choose one sentence from a text or teacher you trust deeply, and for one week treat it not as instruction but as sustenance — as something you actually ingest, not merely note. Track whether the relationship to the sentence changes.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 10, Verse 18: Krishna to Arjuna — Vibhūti-Yoga