BG 9.19 — Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 9.19Chapter 9 · Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

तपाम्यहमहं वर्षं निगृह्णाम्युत्सृजामि च ।

अमृतं चैव मृत्युश् च सदसच् चाहमर्जुन ॥

tapāmy aham ahaṃ varṣaṃ nigṛhṇāmy utsṛjāmi ca

amṛtaṃ caiva mṛtyuś ca sad asac cāham arjuna

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

meaning

I give heat, I hold back rain and I release it; I am both immortality and death, Arjuna, both what exists and what does not.

ekras · bhāṣya

I heat; I withhold the rain and release it. I am amrita and mrityu; I am sat and asat. The verse pairs opposites and locates Krishna at both ends. Heat and cold; rain held and rain given; immortality and death; existence and non-existence. The pairing is exact and structural.

Shankara reads the verse as Ishvara's own declaration that every cosmic function — heat, rain withheld, rain released — belongs to the one undivided Brahman appearing as Aditya. Amrita and mrityu are not two realities but two faces of the same power; sat is the manifest, achieved; asat is its complement, the latent and the destroyed. The pairing is the structural rhythm of the same single source.

Ramanuja reads every predicate — tapa, varsha-nigrahana, varsha-utsarga, amrita, mrityu, sat, asat — as Bhagavan affirming that the entire universe of chit and achit constitutes his sharira and he is their antaryamin. The pairs are roles within his body; he holds them all from within.

Madhva uses the verse to press the sat-karya / asat-karana distinction drawn from the Bharata: the manifest effect is called sat because it has become abhivyakta-rupa; the unmanifest cause is called asat because it remains avyakta-rupa. Hari alone is the agent of both manifestation and unmanifestation — the only autonomous source.

Vallabha locates the verse in the Pancha-agni-vidya sequence: Bhagavan as Surya-atman draws moisture for eight months — varsha-nigrahana — and releases rain for four — varsha-utsarga — generating the grain that makes yajna possible. His cosmic action is prasada channeled into srishti. Amrita is the nectar of the devas; mrityu is the destruction of the bound.

Madhusudana synthesizes: as Aditya, Bhagavan draws the earth's moisture through solar rays for eight months and returns it as rain for four. Amrita is both the nectar of the devas and the life-principle of all beings; mrityu is their destruction. Sat is whatever exists in relation to a knower; asat is whatever does not yet so exist.

Shridhara reads the same simply: abiding as Aditya, Bhagavan heats in summer, releases rain in monsoon, withholds at other times.

Context

where

Chapter 9 · Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Arjuna

preceded by — BG 9.18

I am your destination, your sustainer, your lord, your witness, your home and your refuge, your disinterested friend; I am the source from which all things arise, the ground on which they stand, the dissolution into which they return, the treasury where they rest, and the imperishable seed of all that is born.

What's going on

I give heat, I hold back rain and I release it; I am both immortality and death, Arjuna, both what exists and what does not.

Sūtras through this verse (61)

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

9.10Nature acts under My gaze.───→here9.19───→10.8Source of all. Most-cited.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.───→here9.19───→9.24The receiver of all rites is named one verse.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

7.17The wise lover is my own dearest one.───→here9.19───→9.22I carry getting and keeping for them.

show all 61

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

6.1Renouncer and yogi together───→here9.19───→9.22Yogakshema as offering returned

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

6.1The fruit-unattached one is yogi and renouncer.───→here9.19───→9.22The undivided ones the Lord himself sustains.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

7.16The lover-knower stands at the top of the four.───→here9.19───→9.22Constant thought of Me is self-contemplation itself.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

9.1I praise Kāśirāja, king among gurus.───→here9.19───→10.1Royal knowledge, royal secret, Kāśirāja.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.───→here9.19───→9.22The undivided devotee is already complete.

MadhusūdanaclassicalJ

Two kinds of nature — divine and demonicbetween

9.14Constantly singing, striving with steady vow.───→here9.19───→15.20The chapter closes gesturing toward sixteen.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

7.30Hold the Lord through every layer of life.───→here9.19───→9.34Bind your mind to Me, the only safe tie.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

6.43Practice resumes; it never restarts.───→here9.19───→9.32Even the low-born reach the highest goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

7.1Mind on Me, refuge wholly in Me.───→here9.19───→9.22For the undivided I personally provide.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

6.32Sees others' pain and joy as his own.───→here9.19───→9.29I am equal to all; lovers live in Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

9.4The world rests in Me, not Me in the world.───→here9.19───→10.20I am the Self in every heart.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsbetween

9.12Vain hopes, vain acts, their own punishment.───→here9.19───→16.1Divine traits named: fearless, pure, steady.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here9.19───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanapproach

───→here9.19───→9.22I myself am the Lord, the Self of all.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

6.11Mudra and posture. 'Shuchau deshe pratishthapya sthiram asanam atmanah.' Establi───→here9.19───→9.26Puja and havan. 'Patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayachchhati.' Whoev

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologybetween

9.4'Maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina.' All this universe is pervaded by───→here9.19───→9.29'Samo'ham sarva-bhuteshu na me dveshyo'sti na priyah.' I am equal in all beings;

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

5.18Ring finger. Samadrishti. 'Vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini, shuni ch───→here9.19───→9.22Pinky finger. Shraddha, faith. Gaurav lands shraddha with the Sushma Swaraj six-

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

4.8'Paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam, dharma-samsthapana-arthaya sambh───→here9.19───→9.27Dharma-as-offering pillar. 'Yat karoshi yad ashnasi yaj juhoshi dadasi yat.' Gau

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm───→here9.19───→9.27'Yat karoshi yad ashnasi yaj juhoshi dadasi yat.' Bhakti-inside-karma. Whatever

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

9.1The royal secret of the second ṣaṭka.───→here9.19───→10.1His glory becomes the chapter's evidence.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

6.1The renouncer is the one who acts for Me.───→here9.19───→9.27Whatever you do, do it as offering.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

8.14Easily reached by unbroken recollection.───→here9.19───→9.22For the one-pointed, I personally provide.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyabetween

7.14Surrender alone crosses the māyā.───→here9.19───→9.32Even the lowest birth reaches Me through this.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata similebetween

7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.───→here9.19───→9.34Set toward Me, the seeker's whole posture.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsbetween

7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.───→here9.19───→9.22For the undivided, I carry it Myself.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

7.21Whatever form is worshipped, I steady it.───→here9.19───→9.24Receiver of every rite is the indweller alone.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionbetween

4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.───→here9.19───→9.22Yoga-kṣemam: the Lord's work, not the seeker's caste.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

7.18The jñānin is dearest; not interchangeable.───→here9.19───→9.34Refuge is not bondage by another name.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

9.1Chapter 7's residue of wonder forces 9's disclosure.───→here9.19───→11.54The saguṇa-bhakta privileged ahead of 12.1.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyabetween

7.22The fruits of those rites are ordained by Me.───→here9.19───→9.20Soma-drinking heaven- seekers worship Me too.

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awaybetween

7.21Whichever form I steady that faith.───→here9.19───→9.30Even fallen conduct, love makes pure.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessbetween

9.13Great souls turn no mind to any other.───→here9.19───→9.22The undivided are my one foundation.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugebetween

4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.───→here9.19───→9.29Even to all — yet near to those who turn.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

9.1The Lord is reached by pure devotion.───→here9.19───→12.1Form or formless: which is the better road?

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminapproach

───→here9.19───→10.7Knowing the cases steadies the yoga.

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralexit

8.6'Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam.' Whatever state of being one remembers at the last ───→here9.19───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingexit

8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.───→here9.19───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitexit

8.14Remembrance comes only from constant daily practice.───→here9.19───→

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlybetween

9.4The Lord pervades all, yet stays untouched.───→here9.19───→9.22Grace alone carries the one with no other thought.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.───→here9.19───→9.22Grace alone — never calculation of merit.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

9.1Single-verse prelude names the secret of secrets.───→here9.19───→13.2Architectural claim: the Lord's own bhāṣya.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractbetween

7.1The play-Person of every form opens chapter 7.───→here9.19───→9.32The unsheltered run to their cowherd-Lord.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

7.14Surrender is the only way past the Lord's māyā.───→here9.19───→9.22The Bhāgavata block grounds grace-only doctrine.

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

7.14Cross the maya───→here9.19───→9.22Yogakshema

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathbetween · v2

9.14Bowing always───→here9.19───→9.22Yogakshema

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

2.41Single-pointed buddhi───→here9.19───→9.22Yogakshema for the undivided

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

9.9Like one detached, not actually───→here9.19───→13.30Seer of non-action by Hari's light

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departurebetween

9.4He pervades, yet is not in any of it.───→here9.19───→11.46Cosmic and gracious one self-luminous.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

9.16The sacrifice itself is named as Viṣṇu.───→here9.19───→15.1The world-tree's root is Viṣṇu above.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

9.9He sits like one detached, not actually detached.───→here9.19───→13.30The seer of non-action sees by Hari's light.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

7.16Four kinds approach; the devoted is best.───→here9.19───→9.22For the undivided, I personally provide.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalC

Vision is the structural centerapproach

───→here9.19───→10.1Listen one more time — clearer before the pivot.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalH

Bhakti as non-dual recognitionapproach

───→here9.19───→9.22Consciousness tending its own self-knowing modes.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerapproach

───→here9.19───→11.8The eye is given; seeing is grace.

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourexit · v2

8.12Om at the close───→here9.19───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingbetween

9.13The great know Me as beginning of beings.───→here9.19───→10.42With one part I pervade this whole world, and stand.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personbetween

7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.───→here9.19───→9.22For those who see only Me I myself bear all need.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitbetween

9.7Even pralaya keeps jīva-tāratamya.───→here9.19───→9.25Each worship reaches its own destination.

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 17 occurrences)

उत्सृजामि ut-√sṛj — to cast off, release (ud- + √sṛj) · present indicative 1st person singular verb
अर्जुन arjuna — Arjuna (the third Pāṇḍava); also: white, bright · vocative masculine singular noun · also at 1.1, 2.2, 2.54, 3.1, 3.7, 3.36 +3

show all 12

च ca ×4 — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
अहम् mad ×3 — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · nominative singular noun
तपामि √tap — to heat, perform tapas / austerity (verbal root) · present indicative 1st person singular verb
वर्षम् varṣa — year; rain · accusative masculine singular noun
निगृह्णामि ni-√grah — (ni- + grah: to seize) · present indicative 1st person singular verb
अमृतम् amṛta — immortal, the deathless, nectar (a- + mṛta past-pple. 'died', from √mṛ) · nominative neuter singular noun
एव eva — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
मृत्युः mṛtyu — death; Mṛtyu personified · nominative masculine singular noun
सत् √as — to be (verbal root) · nominative neuter singular present participle verb
असत् asat — non-being, untruth (a- + sat 'being', from √as) · nominative neuter singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If Bhagavān is both amṛta (immortality) and mṛtyu (death), what does it mean to pray for healing or long life—are you praying to the same source that withholds?
02The verse lists sat (the manifest) and asat (the unmanifest) as equally 'I am'—how should a practitioner relate to things that do not yet exist or have already ceased?

show all 7

03Six schools read 'sat-asat' differently: relational-epistemic, temporal, gross-subtle, causal, body-modes, transcended. Which reading changes what you do when facing loss?
04Bhagavān withholds rain (nigrahaṇa) for eight months before releasing it—is the experience of scarcity or delay ever readable as cosmic intentionality rather than mere absence?
05The verse is embedded in a sequence about mahātmās who worship Bhagavān 'in many ways' (bahu-dhā). Does recognizing cosmic omnipresence increase or dissolve the motivation for ritual diversity?
06If even death is 'I am Arjuna'—spoken directly to a warrior about to kill and be killed—what is the verse doing to Arjuna's relationship with the bodies on the battlefield?
07Each school agrees Bhagavān is the agent of natural cycles; where they disagree is on whether the world thereby shares Bhagavān's being or merely reflects His will. What practical difference does that disagreement make to ecological responsibility?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When a season of intense pressure (heat, scarcity, difficulty) arrives, the Advaita practitioner recognizes it as Brahman appearing in a contractive form—neither a punishment nor a random force, but Māyā's own rhythm. The practice is to witness without identifying the 'I' with either the heat or the relief, understanding that both are modifications within the one undivided awareness.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

In the Viśiṣṭādvaita frame, every meal on the table is the body of Bhagavān—the rain He released, the grain it grew, the hands that cooked it. The everyday application is gratitude structured as kainkarya (service): eating, working, and receiving care become acts of acknowledging that the Lord's body sustains one's own, and service to any part of that body is service to the whole.

show all 6

Dvaita

Madhva's practitioner holds that Hari sovereignly withholds and releases—scarcity is not a defect in the world but Hari's independent will. The everyday application is trust without projection: one does not presume to know why the rain is withheld, but one remains a dependent worshipper (dāsa) whose role is continued bhajana regardless of outcomes, confident in Hari's transcendent goodness.

Śuddhādvaita

In Puṣṭi-mārga, the cycle of seasons is Kṛṣṇa's own play (līlā). The practitioner's everyday application is to receive each season—dry summer, flooding monsoon, cold winter—as a different mood of Kṛṣṇa's self-expression, and to arrange their devotional life (seva, offerings, song) in tune with the season's rasa rather than imposing uniformity year-round.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's reading invites the devotee to see every visible thing (the sun, the rain, the body) as sthūla (gross) forms of Bhagavān, and every invisible thing (breath, memory, love) as sūkṣma (subtle) forms. The everyday application is a continuous re-attribution of agency: 'this warmth is Him, this grief is Him, this recovery is Him'—a discipline that gradually dissolves the habit of treating natural and emotional events as self-generated.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's synthesis supports a pluralistic household: family members at different stages of life worship differently (pūjā, jñāna-vicāra, service, meditation), and the verse grounds why this is not incoherence but adhikāra-based appropriateness. The everyday application is to stop measuring one's own practice against others' and to engage fully in whatever mode one's current clarity and inclination sustain.

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 9, Verse 19: Krishna to Arjuna — Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga