BG 10.40 — Vibhūti-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 10.40Chapter 10 · Vibhūti-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Paranṭapa · anuṣṭubh

नान्तो ऽस्ति मम दिव्यानां विभूतीनां परन्तप ।

एष तूद्देशतः प्रोक्तो विभूतेर् विस्तरो मया ॥

nānto 'sti mama divyānāṃ vibhūtīnāṃ parantapa

eṣa tūddeśataḥ prokto vibhūter vistaro mayā

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

meaning

There is no end to my divine manifestations, scorcher of enemies. What I have declared here is a summary only, one region of a glory that no speech can fully compass.

ekras · bhāṣya

There is no end to My divya vibhutis, parantapa. What I have spoken is uddeshatah — by way of indication — the vistara of My vibhuti. The verse fulfils 10.19's hanta — the chapter's promise to give the pradhana only. Now Krishna names that the catalog was uddeshatah — by indication, by selected example. The vistara was bounded by the format; the actual extent is unbounded.

Shankara reads the verse cleanly. There is no end — na antah — to Krishna's divya vibhutis. The catalog was uddeshatah — by way of pointing out — not exhaustive. The verse acknowledges what the disciple's earlier asheshena could not be granted: not because Krishna will not, but because the vibhutis are structurally unbounded.

Madhusudana reads the verse as the chapter's honest closure of the enumeration arc. The disciple was given the operating set; the actual set is infinite. The verse pre-empts any interpretation of the catalog as exhaustive: it was a sample, not the totality.

Ramanuja reads with characteristic warmth: Bhagavan's vibhutis are unbounded; the verse-form can name only the chief examples. The disciple's recognition is meant to extend from the named to the unnamed by the principle of seeing-as: anything that bears prominence in its class is similarly Bhagavan's vibhuti.

Madhva reads strictly: Hari's vibhutis are infinite; the catalog gives the principal channels for recognition.

Vallabha reads through pushti-marga: prasada flows through every operating excellence; the catalog gives the meditator a starting set, not a closed set.

Shridhara reads cleanly: na antah — no end — closes the catalog with the proper humility about its scope.

Context

where

Chapter 10 · Vibhūti-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Paranṭapa

preceded by — BG 10.39

I am the seed of every being, Arjuna. Nothing that moves or stands still could exist without me.

What's going on

There is no end to my divine manifestations, scorcher of enemies. What I have declared here is a summary only, one region of a glory that no speech can fully compass.

Sūtras through this verse (21)

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

10.39No exception outside Me.───→here10.40───→10.42One fragment props all.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned alonebetween

10.11I dispel the dark of unknowing for them.───→here10.40───→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.───→here10.40───→11.1Instruction yields, experience opens up.

show all 21

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

10.36Sattva of the strong───→here10.40───→18.14Five causes of action

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

10.1His glory becomes the chapter's evidence.───→here10.40───→11.1The aiśvarya-delusion now to be removed.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

10.10I give the buddhi-yoga to those who love.───→here10.40───→11.54Undivided love beholds it.

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminbetween

10.39No exception is possible.───→here10.40───→10.42One fragment props the world.

Ekrasmodernforgiveness

Forgivenessapproach · other

───→here10.40───→12.13Friendly, compassionate

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourexit · v2

8.12Om at the close───→here10.40───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayexit

9.32Women, śūdras, all, also reach the goal.───→here10.40───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingexit

8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.───→here10.40───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitexit

8.14Remembrance comes only from constant daily practice.───→here10.40───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

10.1Royal knowledge, royal secret, Kāśirāja.───→here10.40───→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.───→here10.40───→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.───→here10.40───→13.17The Knowable lives as the inner light.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here10.40───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingbetween

9.13The great know Me as beginning of beings.───→here10.40───→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.───→here10.40───→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.───→here10.40───→11.55Grace-soul acts only when the Lord wills.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerapproach

───→here10.40───→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 ───→here10.40───→

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 14 occurrences)

मम·मया mad ×2 — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · genitive singular noun / instrumental singular noun
विभूतीनाम्·विभूतेः vibhūti ×2 — manifestation, glory, supernatural power (vi- + √bhū) · genitive feminine plural noun / genitive feminine singular noun

show all 12

न na — not (negation particle)
अन्तः anta — end, conclusion, limit, death · nominative masculine singular noun
अस्ति √as — to be (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
दिव्यानाम् divya — divine, celestial, of the gods · genitive feminine plural noun
परन्तप paraṃtapa — scorcher of foes (para 'foe' + tap 'burn') · vocative masculine singular noun
एष etad — this (proximal demonstrative) · nominative masculine singular noun
तु tu — but, on the other hand (particle)
उद्देशतः uddeśa — (ud- + deśa: place) · ablative masculine singular noun
प्रोक्तः pra-√vac — to declare (pra- + √vac 'speak forth') · nominative masculine singular participle noun
विस्तरः vistara — extension, detail, expansion (vi- + √stṛ) · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If even a comprehensive catalogue of Kṛṣṇa's vibhūtis is only a fragment (uddeśataḥ), what epistemic posture should the student bring to any systematic theology or philosophical system that claims completeness?
02Śaṅkara says the infinity cannot be known even by the sarvajña — does this mean wonder (vismaya) is a permanent, non-eliminable feature of genuine knowledge, rather than a sign of ignorance?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja's 'upādhayaḥ' implies the summary is shaped by the receiver's capacity — how does the tradition's practice of adhikāra (qualified access) mirror what Kṛṣṇa is doing in this entire chapter?
04Vallabha reads the naming of vibhūtis as kīrtana (devotional proclamation) rather than taxonomy — where in your own life do you treat description as analysis when it could function as worship?
05Madhusūdana's 'tvāṃ prati' (addressed specifically to you) turns an infinite catalogue into an intimate gift — how does personal address change the reception of a teaching that would otherwise remain abstract?
06The verse closes the vibhūti-yoga section — does the acknowledgment of incompleteness strengthen or undermine the chapter's rhetorical force? What work does admitted partiality do in sacred pedagogy?
07All six schools agree the list is provisional; they differ on why. Is the inexhaustibility ontological (Advaita: Brahman cannot be bounded), relational (Viśiṣṭādvaita: auspicious perfections overflow), or devotional (Śuddhādvaita: naming is already worship)? What is at stake in choosing one frame?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you finish a project or course of study and feel you have 'covered' a subject, pause: ask whether you have grasped a region (uddeśa) rather than a totality. The Advaita discipline trains the mind to hold partial maps without confusing them for the territory — cultivating intellectual humility not as weakness but as accurate perception of the infinite.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Each time you encounter something beautiful or excellent — a colleague's skill, a piece of music, a well-made object — treat it as a kalyāṇī vibhūti, an auspicious form disclosing something of the divine. The Viśiṣṭādvaita application is to let every encounter with excellence expand your devotional attention rather than exhaust it.

show all 6

Dvaita

In relationships of authority and service — with a mentor, a parent, an institution you serve — Dvaita's lesson from this verse is that you cannot exhaust the source. Rather than trying to 'figure out' the person or system completely, the appropriate orientation is dependent attentiveness (upāsanā), remaining available to what has not yet been disclosed.

Śuddhādvaita

In the Puṣṭi-mārga spirit: make a practice of naming what you are grateful for not as a cognitive inventory but as a form of kīrtana — say the names aloud, slowly, knowing that the naming itself is participation in what is named. Vallabha's application is that speech about the good is never merely descriptive; it is always also an offering.

Bhakti

When you feel overwhelmed by complexity — too many facts, too many demands, too many paths — Śrīdhara's reading offers a practical anchor: a partial but reliable summary (saṃkṣepa) is enough to begin. The inability to hold everything at once is not a defect; it is the condition under which bhakti is designed to operate. Start with what you have been given.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's 'tvāṃ prati' — the teaching is addressed to you specifically — offers a daily practice: receive general wisdom (scriptural, philosophical, from teachers) as if it were personally sent. The Advaita-bhakti integration dissolves the split between impersonal truth and intimate relationship; any fragment of the infinite that reaches you has been proportioned to your capacity.

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 40: Krishna to Arjuna — Vibhūti-Yoga