🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 9.17

Chapter 9 · राजविद्याराजगुह्ययोग · Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga · "The Royal Knowledge & Royal Secret" · Verse 17 of 34

← BG 9.16↑ Chapter 9 hub · Bhagavad-Gītā indexBG 9.18 →
🪷 A foundational verse of the substrate
Pitāham Asya Jagato · Krishna IS the Mother
Krishna declares Himself father, mother, supporter, and grandfather of this world · the mātṛ-tattva anchor.
Themes: mātṛ-tattva · krishna-is-mother · universal-parent
पिताऽहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामहः।

वेद्यं पवित्रमोंकार ऋक् साम यजुरेव च।।9.17।।
Bhagavad-Gītā 9.17 · the yathārtha śloka (Devanāgarī Sanskrit · canonical)

🪷 English Translations

Five authentic English voices · each from a distinct sampradāya · together revealing the verse's full śabda-tattva.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 · public domain · Cosmo Press tradition
9.17 I am the Father of the universe and its Mother; I am its Nourisher and its Grandfather; I am the Knowable and the Pure; I am Om; and I am the Sacred Scriptures.
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
9.17 I am the father of this world, the mother, the dispenser of the fruits of actions and the grandfather; the (one) thing to be known, the purifier, the sacred monosyllable (Om), and also the Rik-, the Sama-and the Yajur-Vedas.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
9.17 Asya, of this; jagatah, world; aham, I; am pita, the father; mata, the mother; dhata, ordainer, dispenser of the results of their actions to the creatures; (and the) pirtamahah, grand-father. I am the vedayam, knowable-that which has to be known; the pavitram, sanctifier; [Virtuous actions.] and the onkarah, syllable Om; eva ca, as also Rk, Sama and Yajus. [Brahman, which has to be known, is realizable through Om, regarding which fact the three Vedas are the authority. The ca (as also) is suggestive of the Atharva-veda.] Moreover,
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
9.17 Of the world consisting of mobile and immobile entities, I alone am the father, mother, creator and grandfather. Here the term Dhatr stands for one other than the parents who helps in the birth of a particular person. Whatever is known from theVedas as purifying, I alone am that. I am the Pranava, which originates knowledge and forms the seed of the Vedas. I am the Veda comprising Rk, Saman and Yajus.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
9.17. I am the father, the mother, the sustainer and the paternal-grandsire of this world; [I am] the sacred object of knowledge, the syullable Om, the Rk, the Saman, and the Yajus too.

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

The classical commentary tradition rendered in English · each ācārya speaks from their own sampradāya · the seer chooses the depth of darśana.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
9.17 पिता father? अहम् I? अस्य of this? जगतः world? माता mother? धाता the dispenser of the fruits of actions? पितामहः grandfather? वेद्यम् the (one) thing to be known? पवित्रम् the purifier? ओंकारः the Omkara? ऋक् Rik? साम Sama? यजुः Yajus? एव also? च and.Commentary Dhata Supporter or sustainer by dispenser of the fruits of actions.Isvara or the Saguna Brahman is the father. MulaPrakriti or the primordial Nature is the mother. The pure Satchidananda Para Brahman (ExistenceKnowledgeBliss Absolute) is the grandfather.Vedyam The one thing to be known. This is the Supreme Being.Pavitram Purifier. I am of the form of a bath in the holy river Ganga and the Gayatri Japa which purify the aspirants externally and internally.Cha and. This includes the AtharvanaVeda also. (Cf.XIV.3)
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
9.17 Asya, of this; jagatah, world; aham, I; am pita, the father; mata, the mother; dhata, ordainer, dispenser of the results of their actions to the creatures; (and the) pirtamahah, grand-father. I am the vedayam, knowable-that which has to be known; the pavitram, sanctifier; [Virtuous actions.] and the onkarah, syllable Om; eva ca, as also Rk, Sama and Yajus. [Brahman, which has to be known, is realizable through Om, regarding which fact the three Vedas are the authority. The ca (as also) is suggestive of the Atharva-veda.] Moreover,
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
9.17 Of the world consisting of mobile and immobile entities, I alone am the father, mother, creator and grandfather. Here the term Dhatr stands for one other than the parents who helps in the birth of a particular person. Whatever is known from theVedas as purifying, I alone am that. I am the Pranava, which originates knowledge and forms the seed of the Vedas. I am the Veda comprising Rk, Saman and Yajus.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
9.17 See Comment under 9.19
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।9.17।। आत्मा कोई अस्पष्ट? अगोचर सत् तत्त्व नहीं कि जो भावरहित? संबंध रहित और गुण रहित हो। यह दर्शाने के लिए कि यही आत्मा ईश्वर के रूप में परम प्रेमस्वरूप है? परिच्छिन्न जगत् के साथ उसके सम्बन्धों को यहाँ दर्शाया गया है। मैं जगत् का पिता? माता? धाता और पितामह हूँ। माता? पिता और धाता इन तीनों से अभिप्राय यह है कि वह जगत् का एकमात्र कारण है और उसका कोई कारण नहीं है। यह तथ्य पितामह शब्द से दर्शाया गया है। परमात्मा स्वयं सिद्ध है।यहाँ विशेष बल देकर कहा गया है कि जानने योग्य एकमेव वस्तु (वेद्य) मैं हूँ। इस बात को सभी धर्मशास्त्रों में बारम्बार कहा गया है आत्मा वह तत्त्व है जिसे जान लेने पर? अन्य सब कुछ ज्ञात हो जाता है। आत्मबोध से अपूर्णता का? सांसारिक जीवन का और मर्मबेधी दुखों का अन्त हो जाता है। देहधारी जीव के रूप में जीने का अर्थ है? अपनी दैवी सार्मथ्य से निष्कासित जीवन को जीना। वास्तव में हम तो दैवी सार्मथ्य के उत्तराधिकारी हैं परन्तु अज्ञानवश जीव भाव को प्राप्त हो गये हैं। अपने इस परमानन्द स्वरूप का साक्षात्कार करना ही वह परम पुरुषार्थ है? जो मनुष्य को पूर्णतया सन्तुष्ट कर सकता है।सम्पूर्ण विश्व के अधिष्ठान आत्मा को वेदों में ओंकार के द्वारा सूचित किया गया है। हम अपने जीवन में अनुभवों की तीन अवस्थाओं से गुजरते हैं जाग्रत्? स्वप्न और सुषुप्ति। इन तीनों अवस्थाओं का अधिष्ठान और ज्ञाता (अनुभव करने वाला) इन तीनों से भिन्न होना चाहिए? क्योंकि ज्ञाता ज्ञेय वस्तुओं से और अधिष्ठान अध्यस्त से भिन्न होता है।इन तीनों अवस्थाओं से भिन्न उस तत्त्व को? जो इन को धारण किये हुये है? उपनिषद् के ऋषियों ने तुरीय अर्थात् चतुर्थ कहा है। इन चारों को जिस एक शब्द के द्वारा वेदों में सूचित किया गया है वह शब्द है । ओम् ही आत्मा है? जिसकी उपासना के लिए भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण की पूजा श्रीमद्भागवत में वर्णित है।प्रणव के द्वारा लक्षित आत्मा ही वेद्य वस्तु है? जो पारमार्थिक सत्य है? जिसको कभी प्रत्यक्ष तो कभी अप्रत्यक्ष अथवा मौनरूप से वेदों में निर्देशित किया गया है। इसलिए यहाँ कहा गया है कि मैं ऋग्वेद? सामवेद और यजुर्वेद हूँ।आगे कहते हैं --

🪷 Place in the Bhagavad-Gītā

🪷 Related Ślokas · The Darśana-Neighborhood

These prominent ślokas share thematic resonance with the current verse · together they form the foundational web of the substrate's tattva-recognition.

🪷 BG 7.7
Mattaḥ Parataraṁ Nānyat · Krishna IS the thread
The thread on which all this substrate is strung · Krishna's declaration that nothing is higher than Him · all is held in Him as p…
🪷 BG 10.8
Ahaṁ Sarvasya Prabhavo · the source of all
I am the source of everything · from Me all proceeds. The wise worship Me knowing this.
🪷 BG 15.15
Sarvasya Cāhaṁ Hṛdi Sanniviṣṭo · I dwell in every heart
Krishna in every heart · the source of memory, knowledge, and forgetting · the antaryāmin anchor.

🪷 Cited from These Pages on Vidhyāmitra

This verse is featured across the substrate as a foundational anchor · the non-dual interweaving means every page below contains an aperture into this exact śloka. Click any page to see the verse in its full dharmic-context.

← Previous verse · BG 9.16Next verse · BG 9.18 →

🪷 ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय 🪷

सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)