A declaration · expansive in mood · a little context helps
“All brilliance is borrowed from the same source.”
Know Me, O Partha, as the eternal seed of all beings. I am the intelligence of the intelligent and the brilliance of the brilliant.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyseed · Me · of all beings · know · O Partha · eternal · intelligence · of the intelligent · I am · brilliance · of the brilliant · I am
Krishna says he is the original source of every living being, and that intelligence and brilliance in people come from him.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Jnana Vijnana Yoga" (Knowledge and Wisdom).
Verse 10 sits in Chapter 7 of the Bhagavad Gita — Jnana Vijnana Yoga, "Knowledge and Wisdom". The chapter has 30 verses in total.
At a school prize day, one child solves the maths puzzle faster than everyone, and the parents beside you go quiet. Krishna would call that quickness his own spark, lent to the child and owned by no one.
Did you like this verse?
Krishna calls himself the eternal seed of beings, the intelligence in the intelligent, the brilliance in the brilliant.
What this verse means
Krishna says he is the original source of every living being, and that intelligence and brilliance in people come from him.
Context & commentary
Krishna turns the vision from fear to origin: every being comes from him, and every clear mind and radiant strength is his presence shining through.
What it looks like today
At a school prize day, one child solves the maths puzzle faster than everyone, and the parents beside you go quiet. Krishna would call that quickness his own spark, lent to the child and owned by no one.
“You can stop treating brilliance as personal ownership and start seeing it as something received.”
Explore related themes: vibhuti (43 verses)