Vyasa · a new plain-English translation from the Sanskrit
10.1 The Blessed Lord said: Hear again, mighty-armed one, my supreme word, which I will speak to you, who delight in it, out of desire for your good.
10.2 Neither the hosts of gods nor the great sages know my origin, for I am the source of the gods and the great sages in every way.
10.3 He who knows me as unborn and beginningless, the great lord of the worlds, is undeluded among mortals and is freed from all sins.
10.4 Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from delusion, patience, truth, self-control, calm, pleasure, pain, being, non-being, fear, and fearlessness,
10.5 nonviolence, equanimity, contentment, austerity, generosity, fame, and infamy — these various states of beings arise from me alone.
10.6 The seven great sages of old, and the four Manus before them, whose nature is mine, were born of my mind; from them come these creatures in the world.
10.7 He who truly knows this manifestation and power of mine is joined to me by unwavering discipline — of this there is no doubt.
10.8 I am the source of all; from me everything proceeds. Knowing this, the wise, filled with devotion, worship me.
10.9 With minds fixed on me, their lives given over to me, enlightening one another and speaking of me always, they are content and they rejoice.
10.10 To those ever disciplined, who worship me with love, I give the discipline of understanding by which they come to me.
10.11 Out of compassion for them alone, dwelling within their own being, I destroy the darkness born of ignorance with the shining lamp of knowledge.
10.12 Arjuna said: You are the supreme Brahman, the supreme abode, the supreme purifier, the eternal divine Person, the primal god, unborn, all-pervading.
10.13 So all the sages have declared you, and the divine sage Narada too, and Asita, Devala, and Vyasa; and now you yourself tell me so.
10.14 I hold all this that you tell me to be true, Keshava. Neither the gods nor the demons, Lord, know your manifestation.
10.15 You alone know yourself by yourself, highest of persons, source of beings, lord of beings, god of gods, lord of the world.
10.16 You should tell me, without omission, of your divine manifestations, by which powers you stand pervading these worlds.
10.17 How am I to know you, O yogin, by constant meditation? And in what various forms are you to be meditated upon by me, Lord?
10.18 Tell me again in full detail of your discipline and your manifestation, Janardana, for I am never sated hearing your immortal words.
10.19 The Blessed Lord said: Well then, I will tell you of my divine manifestations, but only the chief ones, best of the Kurus, for there is no end to their extent.
10.20 I am the Self, Gudakesha, seated in the heart of all beings; I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.
10.21 Among the Adityas I am Vishnu; among lights, the radiant sun; among the winds I am Marichi; among the stars, the moon.
10.22 Among the Vedas I am the Sama Veda; among the gods, Vasava; among the senses I am the mind; among beings, I am consciousness.
10.23 Among the Rudras I am Shankara; among Yakshas and Rakshasas, the Lord of Wealth; among the Vasus I am Fire; among the peaks, Meru.
10.24 Know me, Partha, as the chief among household priests, Brihaspati; among generals I am Skanda; among waters, the ocean.
10.25 Among the great sages I am Bhrigu; among words, the single syllable Om; among sacrifices, the sacrifice of silent recitation; among the immovable, the Himalaya.
10.26 Among all trees I am the fig tree; among the divine sages, Narada; among the Gandharvas, Chitraratha; among the perfected sages, Kapila.
10.27 Know me, among horses, as Uchchaihshravas, born of the nectar of immortality; among lordly elephants, Airavata; and among men, the king.
10.28 Among weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows, the wish-granting cow; among the begetters of offspring, I am Kandarpa; among serpents, I am Vasuki.
10.29 Among the nagas I am Ananta; among sea-dwellers I am Varuna; among the ancestors, I am Aryaman; among those who restrain, I am Yama.
10.30 Among the Daityas I am Prahlada; among reckoners, I am Time; among beasts I am the lion, their king; and among birds, the son of Vinata.
10.31 Among purifiers I am the wind; among wielders of weapons, Rama; among fish I am the crocodile; among rivers, I am the Ganges.
10.32 Of creations I am the beginning, the end, and the middle also, Arjuna; among the sciences, the science of the Self; among the speech of debaters, I am the argument.
10.33 Among letters I am the letter A; among compounds, the dual compound; I alone am imperishable Time; I am the Ordainer whose face is turned everywhere.
10.34 I am death that seizes all, and the origin of things yet to be; among feminine things, fame, fortune, speech, memory, wisdom, steadfastness, and patience.
10.35 Among Sama hymns I am the Brihat-sama; among meters, the Gayatri; among months I am Margashirsha; among seasons, the flowering spring.
10.36 Among deceivers I am the game of dice; I am the splendor of the splendid; I am victory, I am resolve, I am the goodness of the good.
10.37 Among the Vrishnis I am Vasudeva; among the Pandavas, Arjuna; among sages too I am Vyasa; among poets, the poet Ushanas.
10.38 Among those who punish I am the rod; among those who seek victory, I am statecraft; among secret things I am silence; among the knowing, I am knowledge.
10.39 And whatever is the seed of all beings, that too I am, Arjuna; there is nothing, moving or unmoving, that can exist without me.
10.40 There is no end to my divine manifestations, scorcher of enemies. What I have told you is only a sample of the extent of my manifestation.
10.41 Whatever being there is of power, splendor, or strength, know that to have sprung from a mere fragment of my glory.
10.42 But what use to you, Arjuna, is all this knowledge in detail? I stand sustaining this entire universe with a single fragment of myself.