BG 10.21 — Vibhūti-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 10.21Chapter 10 · Vibhūti-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

आदित्यानामहं विष्णुर् ज्योतिषां रविरंशुमान् ।

मरीचिर् मरुतामस्मि नक्षत्राणामहं शशी ॥

ādityānām ahaṃ viṣṇur jyotiṣāṃ ravir aṃśumān

marīcir marutām asmi nakṣatrāṇām ahaṃ śaśī

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

meaning

Among the Adityas I am Vishnu; among lights, the radiant sun; among the Maruts, Marichi; among the constellations, the moon.

ekras · bhāṣya

Among the Adityas I am Vishnu; among lights the radiant sun; among the Maruts Marichi; among the nakshatras the moon. Four identifications in one verse.

Krishna names himself in each domain by its most luminous, most representative form.

Shankara reads each precisely. Among the twelve Adityas — the solar dynasty — Krishna is Vishnu, the dvadasha-aditya named for him. Among jyotis-bearers — light-givers — the amshu-man ravi, the radiant sun. Among the forty-nine Maruts, Marichi — the chief. Among the nakshatras — the lunar mansions — the shashi, the moon itself, that holds them in its rhythm. Each pick names the pradhana of its class; the meditator anchors recognition through the most evidently divine member of each domain.

Madhusudana reads the technique consistently across the catalog.

Krishna names the dominant member of each class so that the meditator, encountering that member in the world, recognizes Krishna directly. The recognition does not require seeing every member; it requires seeing the chief and recognizing the source.

Ramanuja reads each pick as the locus where Krishna's vibhuti is most concentrated, most accessible to the eye that has been trained to see. The Adityas, jyotis, Maruts, nakshatras are the celestial classes; their representatives are Krishna's most visible cosmic forms.

Madhva reads the enumeration on the bheda-frame: each named figure is a paratantra entity through which Hari's distinct sovereignty becomes recognizable; the named being is not Hari but the channel through which Hari is recognized.

Vallabha reads through pushti-marga's lens: each pick is Krishna's prasada made cosmic; the meditator who recognizes Krishna in the sun, in the moon, in Marichi has received the channel through which prasada flows into recognition.

Shridhara reads the verse cleanly: four classes, four representatives; the catalog has begun.

Context

where

Chapter 10 · Vibhūti-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 10.20

I am the Self seated in the heart of every being, Arjuna; I am their beginning, their middle, and their end.

What's going on

Among the Adityas I am Vishnu; among lights, the radiant sun; among the Maruts, Marichi; among the constellations, the moon.

Sūtras through this verse (21)

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

10.1His glory becomes the chapter's evidence.───→here10.21───→11.1The aiśvarya-delusion now to be removed.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned alonebetween

10.11I dispel the dark of unknowing for them.───→here10.21───→18.65By My grace, you reach Me through what is given.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalC

Vision is the structural centerbetween

10.18Even more detail asked, Abhinava already framed.───→here10.21───→11.1Instruction yields, experience opens up.

show all 21

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)station

───→here10.21───→

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminstation

───→here10.21───→

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

9.29Equal to all───→here10.21───→10.36Sattva of the strong

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

10.10I give the buddhi-yoga to those who love.───→here10.21───→11.54Undivided love beholds it.

Ekrasmodernforgiveness

Forgivenessapproach · other

───→here10.21───→12.13Friendly, compassionate

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourexit · v2

8.12Om at the close───→here10.21───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayexit

9.32Women, śūdras, all, also reach the goal.───→here10.21───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingexit

8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.───→here10.21───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitexit

8.14Remembrance comes only from constant daily practice.───→here10.21───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

10.1Royal knowledge, royal secret, Kāśirāja.───→here10.21───→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.───→here10.21───→11.55The crystal verse names the saguṇa in absolute form.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

10.20I am the Self in every heart.───→here10.21───→13.17The Knowable lives as the inner light.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here10.21───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingbetween

9.13The great know Me as beginning of beings.───→here10.21───→10.42With one part I pervade this whole world, and stand.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

10.20I am the Self seated in every heart.───→here10.21───→13.2'Cāpi' marks two — not one identity.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlybetween

10.14Faith comes only from the Lord's own giving.───→here10.21───→11.55Grace-soul acts only when the Lord wills.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerapproach

───→here10.21───→11.8The eye is given; seeing is grace.

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralexit

8.6'Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam.' Whatever state of being one remembers at the last ───→here10.21───→

Śabda · lemmas (11 unique · 12 occurrences)

अंशुमान् aṃśumant — the sun ('possessing rays', aṃśu + -mant) · nominative masculine singular noun
अस्मि √as — to be (verbal root) · present indicative 1st person singular verb · also at 1.22, 7.10, 10.22, 10.24, 10.28, 10.31 +5
नक्षत्राणाम् nakṣatra — star, lunar mansion · genitive neuter plural noun
मरुताम् marut — Marut (storm gods); wind · genitive masculine plural noun

show all 11

अहम् mad ×2 — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · nominative singular noun
आदित्यानाम् āditya — Āditya, son of Aditi; the sun · genitive masculine plural noun
विष्णुः viṣṇu — Viṣṇu (one of the Trimūrti) · nominative masculine singular noun
ज्योतिषाम् jyotis — light, brilliance, luminary · genitive neuter plural noun
रविः ravi — the sun · nominative masculine singular noun
मरीचिः marīci — Marīci (a primal sage; ray of light) · nominative masculine singular noun
शशी śaśin — the moon (lit. having a hare) · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01Why does Kṛṣṇa list himself as Viṣṇu — one of twelve Ādityas — rather than as the sun itself, which is more universally prominent?
02What is the difference between the nirdhāraṇa-ṣaṣṭhī (selectional genitive: best among) and the sambandha-ṣaṣṭhī (relational genitive: lord of) readings, and why do Rāmānuja and Madhusūdana insist the moon verse requires the relational reading?

show all 7

03If avatāras are here listed only as vibhūtis for meditation (dhyāna-vivakṣā), does that demote their metaphysical status, or does it reveal a pedagogical principle about how form-based devotion functions?
04Madhva grounds 'Viṣṇu' etymologically in two roots (viṣlṛ/viś) to argue that pervasion is an exclusive ontological property. What is the difference between a nominalist and a realist reading of divine names?
05Madhusūdana frames the entire vibhūti chapter as a prescription for those 'unable' (aśakta) to meditate formlessly. What does this imply about the relationship between cosmic grandeur and spiritual limitation?
06The moon is 'lord of the constellations' (nakṣatrāṇāṃ patiḥ) in Rāmānuja's reading. How does the notion of inner lordship (antaryāmitva) change the devotional meaning of gazing at the night sky?
07The seven groups of seven Marut-winds in Śrīdhara's reading (Āvaha through Parivaha) correspond to atmospheric layers. Does the specificity of cosmological enumeration strengthen or distract from the theological point?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you encounter a person of extraordinary competence in any field — a master craftsperson, an elite surgeon, a virtuoso musician — recognize that the excellence itself is Brahman shining through a finite form. Do not stop at admiring the person; see the viśeṣa (distinction) as a pointer to the undivided source.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

In your work, identify the person or role that holds the group together the way the moon holds the constellations in rhythm. Treat that organizing center not merely as a resource to be managed but as the antaryāmin (inner ruler) of your team — serve it as kainkarya (loving service), not as strategy.

show all 6

Dvaita

When naming something or someone in your life — a project, a child, a community — understand that the name is not arbitrary. The Dvaita teaching here is that names encode real properties (Viṣṇu = pervader). Choose names that tell the truth about what you are building, because jīva and Brahman are not identical and the difference matters.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's Puṣṭi-mārga teaching: every time you encounter something of surpassing beauty — a dawn sky, a piece of music that stops you — receive it as prasāda (grace-gift), not as a fortunate accident. The cascade of cosmic high-points in this verse is Kṛṣṇa offering himself to be seen in the world's most luminous moments.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara notes that even the Vāmana avatāra is listed here for meditation purposes, not for its theological primacy. This teaches a practical discipline: choose the form of the divine that is most accessible to you right now and meditate on it fully, even if it is not the 'highest' form. Completeness of attention matters more than hierarchy of object.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's framing is permission: if abstract contemplation of Brahman is too far, start with the most radiant thing you can find — sunlight through a window, the full moon, a fire. These are not approximations to be outgrown but Kṛṣṇa's own self, given as a staircase (bāhyāni dhyānāni) for exactly the stage you are at.

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 21: Krishna to Arjuna — Vibhūti-Yoga