BG 10.34 — Vibhūti-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 10.34Chapter 10 · Vibhūti-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

मृत्युः सर्वहरश् चाहमुद्भवश् च भविष्यताम् ।

कीर्तिः श्रीर् वाक् च नारीणां स्मृतिर् मेधा धृतिः क्षमा ॥

mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham udbhavaś ca bhaviṣyatām

kīrtiḥ śrīr vāk ca nārīṇāṃ smṛtir medhā dhṛtiḥ kṣamā

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

meaning

I am death the all-devourer, and the source of all that is yet to be born; among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, discernment, steadfastness, and patience.

ekras · bhāṣya

I am death the all-taker, and the source of what is to be born. Among the women, kirti, shri, vak, smriti, medha, dhriti, kshama. Eight identifications in one verse — death plus seven feminine virtues.

Shankara reads the picks precisely. Mrityu sarva-hara — death the all-taker — is Krishna in the universal dissolution. Udbhava bhavishyatam — the source of what is yet to be — is Krishna in the universal arising. The two together name Krishna across the entire arc of becoming. Then seven feminine virtues — kirti (fame), shri (prosperity), vak (speech), smriti (memory), medha (intellect), dhriti (steadfastness), kshama (patience) — each personified as a deva-stri, a feminine devata.

Krishna names himself in each.

Madhusudana reads the seven feminine virtues as the inner constituents of the developed personality. Each is what holds the inner instrument together at a particular function; together they constitute the inner moral and cognitive architecture.

Krishna in each is the chapter's recognition that the inner virtues are themselves vibhutis, not merely psychological capacities.

Ramanuja reads each as Bhagavan's sharira-mode in its specific function — the mrityu and udbhava as cosmic; the seven virtues as inner.

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

Vallabha reads through pushti-marga: each virtue is prasada's specific channel; the bhakta who recognizes Krishna in each becomes the recipient of that channel's gift.

Shridhara reads cleanly: death and origin together; seven virtues as feminine personifications.

Context

where

Chapter 10 · Vibhūti-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 10.33

Among letters I am the letter a, among compound words I am the joining compound, I am endless time itself, and I am the Creator who faces every direction.

What's going on

I am death the all-devourer, and the source of all that is yet to be born; among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, discernment, steadfastness, and patience.

Sūtras through this verse (21)

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

10.21Highest of each kind.───→here10.34───→10.39No exception outside Me.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned alonebetween

10.11I dispel the dark of unknowing for them.───→here10.34───→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.───→here10.34───→11.1Instruction yields, experience opens up.

show all 21

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

9.29Equal to all───→here10.34───→10.36Sattva of the strong

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

10.1His glory becomes the chapter's evidence.───→here10.34───→11.1The aiśvarya-delusion now to be removed.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

10.10I give the buddhi-yoga to those who love.───→here10.34───→11.54Undivided love beholds it.

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminbetween

10.21Highest of every kind.───→here10.34───→10.39No exception is possible.

Ekrasmodernforgiveness

Forgivenessapproach · other

───→here10.34───→12.13Friendly, compassionate

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourexit · v2

8.12Om at the close───→here10.34───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayexit

9.32Women, śūdras, all, also reach the goal.───→here10.34───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingexit

8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.───→here10.34───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitexit

8.14Remembrance comes only from constant daily practice.───→here10.34───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

10.1Royal knowledge, royal secret, Kāśirāja.───→here10.34───→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.───→here10.34───→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.───→here10.34───→13.17The Knowable lives as the inner light.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here10.34───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingbetween

9.13The great know Me as beginning of beings.───→here10.34───→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.───→here10.34───→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.───→here10.34───→11.55Grace-soul acts only when the Lord wills.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerapproach

───→here10.34───→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 ───→here10.34───→

Śabda · lemmas (15 unique · 17 occurrences)

कीर्तिः kīrti — fame, glory (from √kīrt) · nominative feminine singular noun
धृतिः dhṛti — firmness, steadiness, fortitude · nominative feminine singular noun · also at 13.6, 16.3, 18.33, 18.34, 18.35
क्षमा kṣamā — patience, forbearance (from √kṣam) · nominative feminine singular noun · also at 10.4, 10.5, 16.3
मृत्युः mṛtyu — death; Mṛtyu personified · nominative masculine singular noun
मेधा medhā — intelligence, wisdom · nominative feminine singular noun
सर्व sarva — all, entire · compound

show all 15

च ca ×3 — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
हरः hara — Hara (epithet of Śiva, 'remover'); seizing · nominative masculine singular noun
अहम् mad — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · nominative singular noun
उद्भवः udbhava — origin, arising (ud- + bhava, from √bhū) · nominative masculine singular noun
भविष्यताम् √bhū — to be, become; the earth (verbal root / noun) · genitive masculine plural future participle verb
श्रीः śrī — Śrī, the goddess; auspicious prefix; glory, beauty, fortune · nominative feminine singular noun
वाच् vāc — speech, voice; the goddess Vāk · nominative feminine singular noun
नारीणाम् nārī — woman · genitive feminine plural noun
स्मृतिः smṛti — memory; tradition; smṛti texts (from √smṛ) · nominative feminine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If the Lord identifies Himself as mṛtyu — the all-seizer — what does this say about the devotee's fear of death, and how does smaraṇa (remembrance) of this vibhūti transform the terror of dissolution?
02The verse groups mṛtyu and uddhava together: ending and arising as two faces of one vibhūti. Where in your own life have you witnessed a loss that was simultaneously the condition for a new flourishing?

show all 7

03Vallabha reads kīrti as Vṛṣabhānu's daughter (a name for Rādhā's lineage) while Śaṅkara and Madhusūdana read it as impersonal fame — what is actually at stake doctrinally in this choice between a personal divine identity and an abstracted quality?
04Madhusūdana defines dhṛti as the power to sustain body and senses even in avacāda (despondency). What practices, according to the different schools, cultivate this quality — and does one need a deity to possess it?
05The seven feminine vibhūtis are all described as devatā-rūpās (deity-forms) whose ābhāsa (mere reflection) elevates those near them. What does this imply about the ethics of proximity — to people, texts, and practices?
06Kṣamā is equanimity untouched by harṣa (joy) or viṣāda (dejection). Given that the Gītā begins with Arjuna's viṣāda, is kṣamā the telos (end-state) the Gītā is pointing toward?
07The verse names no masculine vibhūtis in this final cluster — only feminine forms. What does this asymmetry in the vibhūti catalog reveal about the Gītā's implicit cosmology of śakti?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you next face a deadline, a loss, or the end of a project, pause and recognize the moment as sarvahara-mṛtyu at work — the Absolute reclaiming what was temporarily compounded. Rather than grasping for continuation, practice the Śaṅkara discipline of neti-neti: this role, this relationship, this body is not the ātman. Let the dissolution be clean.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Before beginning any creative or professional work, invoke the seven śaktis — kīrti, śrī, vāk, smṛti, medhā, dhṛti, kṣamā — as genuine presences you are inviting into your kainkarya (service). In Rāmānuja's frame they are modes of Bhagavān's own omnipotence; you do not generate them, you are granted them. Begin your day's work with this acknowledgment rather than with personal confidence.

show all 6

Dvaita

Dvaita asks you to hold firmly to paratantra (dependence): your intelligence, your memory, your forbearance are not your achievements — they are precisely those vibhūtis over which Hari retains sovereignty. When you feel medhā (sharp understanding) or dhṛti (steadiness) deserting you, the correct response is not self-improvement but surrender to the Hari who is both their source and their withdrawer.

Śuddhādvaita

In Vallabha's Puṣṭi-mārga, death is not an impersonal mechanism but Kṛṣṇa removing what blocks His devotees. Identify one relationship, habit, or attachment in your life that is actively blocking your flow of bhakti-rasa; hold it before Kṛṣṇa and ask whether this is the kind of mṛtyu-vibhūti He is enacting in your life right now. This is not resignation — it is discernment of prasāda.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's reading of the seven as devatā-rūpā striyaḥ (women who are deity-forms) suggests a concrete practice: when you encounter a person of exceptional kīrti (renown), vāk (speech), or kṣamā (patience), do not reduce them to a personality trait you admire and wish to acquire. Recognize the vibhūti, bow inwardly, and let the ābhāsa do its elevating work on you without extracting or imitating.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's precise definition of kṣamā — equanimity untouched by harṣa or viṣāda — gives you a measurable inner instrument. At the end of each day, review your emotional ledger: how many swings toward harṣa (elation at praise, success) and viṣāda (deflation at criticism, loss)? The gap between current oscillation and genuine kṣamā is your sādhana-map. Bhakti provides the warmth; Advaita provides the ground — this synthesis is Madhusūdana's daily gift.

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 34: Krishna to Arjuna — Vibhūti-Yoga