BG 10.28 — Vibhūti-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 10.28Chapter 10 · Vibhūti-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

आयुधानामहं वज्रं धेनूनामस्मि कामधुक् ।

प्रजनश् चास्मि कन्दर्पः सर्पाणामस्मि वासुकिः ॥

āyudhānām ahaṃ vajraṃ dhenūnām asmi kāma-dhuk

prajanaś cāsmi kandarpaḥ sarpāṇām asmi vāsukiḥ

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

meaning

Among weapons I am the thunderbolt, among cows the wish-fulfilling Surabhi, among causes of offspring I am Kandarpa, and among serpents Vāsuki.

ekras · bhāṣya

Among weapons, the vajra; among cows, the kama-dhuk — the wish-fulfilling Surabhi; among causes of progeny, Kandarpa; among serpents, Vasuki. Four chiefs in their domains.

Shankara reads each pick precisely. The vajra — Indra's thunderbolt — is the chief weapon. The kama-dhuk is the wish-fulfilling cow. Kandarpa is the deity who is the chief cause of generation. Vasuki is the serpent-king who served as churning-rope at the samudra-manthana.

Madhusudana reads each as the operating chief of its class — recognition-anchor for the meditator.

Ramanuja reads each as Bhagavan's sharira-mode where the relevant function is most concentrated.

Madhva reads on the bheda-frame: each is paratantra; recognition channels through the chief.

Vallabha reads through pushti-marga: each is prasada's chosen channel.

Shridhara reads the verse cleanly: four more chiefs.

Context

where

Chapter 10 · Vibhūti-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 10.27

Among horses I am Uccaiḥśravas, born of the nectar-churning; among elephant lords, Airāvata; among humans, the king.

What's going on

Among weapons I am the thunderbolt, among cows the wish-fulfilling Surabhi, among causes of offspring I am Kandarpa, and among serpents Vāsuki.

Sūtras through this verse (21)

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

10.21Highest of each kind.───→here10.28───→10.39No exception outside Me.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned alonebetween

10.11I dispel the dark of unknowing for them.───→here10.28───→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.───→here10.28───→11.1Instruction yields, experience opens up.

show all 21

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

9.29Equal to all───→here10.28───→10.36Sattva of the strong

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

10.1His glory becomes the chapter's evidence.───→here10.28───→11.1The aiśvarya-delusion now to be removed.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

10.10I give the buddhi-yoga to those who love.───→here10.28───→11.54Undivided love beholds it.

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminbetween

10.21Highest of every kind.───→here10.28───→10.39No exception is possible.

Ekrasmodernforgiveness

Forgivenessapproach · other

───→here10.28───→12.13Friendly, compassionate

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourexit · v2

8.12Om at the close───→here10.28───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayexit

9.32Women, śūdras, all, also reach the goal.───→here10.28───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingexit

8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.───→here10.28───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitexit

8.14Remembrance comes only from constant daily practice.───→here10.28───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

10.1Royal knowledge, royal secret, Kāśirāja.───→here10.28───→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.───→here10.28───→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.───→here10.28───→13.17The Knowable lives as the inner light.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here10.28───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingbetween

9.13The great know Me as beginning of beings.───→here10.28───→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.───→here10.28───→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.───→here10.28───→11.55Grace-soul acts only when the Lord wills.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerapproach

───→here10.28───→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 ───→here10.28───→

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 14 occurrences)

अस्मि √as ×3 — to be (verbal root) · present indicative 1st person singular verb · also at 1.22, 7.10, 10.21, 10.22, 10.24, 10.31 +5
आयुधानाम् āyudha — weapon · genitive neuter plural noun
कन्दर्पः kandarpa — Kandarpa (god of love) · nominative masculine singular noun
वासुकिः vāsuki — Vāsuki (king of the nāgas) · nominative masculine singular noun

show all 12

अहम् mad — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · nominative singular noun
वज्रम् vajra — thunderbolt; diamond · nominative neuter singular noun
धेनूनाम् dhenu — milch cow · genitive feminine plural noun
काम kāma — desire, lust, sensual pleasure · compound
धुक् duh — to milk, yield (verbal root) · nominative feminine singular noun
प्रजनः prajana — (pra- + jana: person) · nominative masculine singular noun
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
सर्पाणाम् sarpa — snake, serpent · genitive masculine plural noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01Kṛṣṇa claims Kandarpa (erotic desire) as his vibhūti — but immediately Śrīdhara and Madhusūdana restrict this to procreative, dharmic desire. What does this tell us about how the tradition negotiates the sacred and the dangerous within the same divine claim?
02Vajra is born from Dadhīci's self-sacrifice. Does Kṛṣṇa's identification with it make the sacrificial act the real vibhūti, rather than the weapon itself? What is the relationship between sacrifice and power in this verse?

show all 7

03The kāmadhuk fulfils all desires, yet Vallabha immediately subordinates her to bhagavat-sevā (service to Bhagavān). Does divine abundance exist for its own sake, or is it always already in service?
04Vāsuki is king of serpents — creatures associated with both poison and wisdom, death and cosmic serpent-power (śakti). What does it mean for Bhagavān to identify with the sovereign of a class that is simultaneously feared and revered?
05Rāmānuja distinguishes single-headed serpents (sarpāḥ) from nāgas, and names Surabhi as the divine havis-cow. Does precision in categorization serve devotion — is knowing the exact species of the Lord's vibhūti an act of bhakti?
06All six schools agree that not every instance of desire, weapons, or cows is divine — only the most sovereign representative. What principle governs which member of a class becomes Bhagavān's vibhūti: power, purity, utility, or something else?
07Madhva's commentary is absent for this verse. In a tradition of strict textual discipline, what does silence mean — is every vibhūti verse equally important for a Dvaita practitioner, or does absence itself carry doctrinal weight?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you find yourself wielding some instrument of your work with extraordinary precision — a surgeon's scalpel, a programmer's logic, a teacher's question — recognize that the sharpness is not yours but the manifestation of the one ground behind all excellence. Use the tool without possessiveness; set it down without loss.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Whatever capacity you have been given — whether to provide for others (kāmadhuk), to create new life or new projects (prajanaḥ), or to protect (Vāsuki) — treat that capacity as an instance of Bhagavān's inner ruling presence (antaryāmin) acting through you. Offer the function back as kainkarya (service); do not hoard the role.

show all 6

Dvaita

You do not own your gifts — your intelligence, your strength, your generative power. Hari is their actual source and sovereign. The Dvaita practitioner resists the subtle inflation of 'I am the kāmadhuk of my family' and instead asks: 'Through whom is this abundance flowing, and how do I direct it back to Hari?'

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's gloss on the kāmadhuk — 'she is worthy of worship because she serves Bhagavān' — offers a template for how to relate to abundance. Any resource in your life that can be channelled into Bhagavān's service becomes sacred. The question for each day: which of my capacities is fit for prasāda (grace-offering) right now?

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's warning — that merely pleasure-driven desire is not Bhagavān's vibhūti — is a practical diagnostic. When desire arises, ask: is this kāma generative and dharmic, pointed toward something lasting, or is it saṃbhogapradhāna (primarily pleasure-seeking)? The vibhūti test re-frames ethical discernment as a devotional practice.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's careful particle-work ('ca' excludes ratimatrāhetu) shows that even the most integrative school maintains precision about which desires are divine. In daily life: hold both the warmth of devotional love and the clarity of Advaita discrimination. Let your affections be ardent; let your analysis of those affections be exact. Neither abandon devotion for philosophy nor dissolve philosophy in sentiment.

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 28: Krishna to Arjuna — Vibhūti-Yoga