Bhagavad Gita · 10.12 · Yoga through Appreciating the Infinite Opulences of God·12 of 42
अर्जुन उवाच परं ब्रह्म परं धाम पवित्रं परमं भवान्।पुरुषं शाश्वतं दिव्यमादिदेवमजं विभुम् ॥
arjuna uvācha paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ
bhavān puruṣhaṁ śhāśhvataṁ divyam ādi-devam ajaṁ vibhum
Sanskrit recitation
Arjuna asks to see more · 10.12–10.18 · Scene
Translation
Arjuna said, "You are the Supreme Brahman, the supreme abode, the supreme purifier, eternal, divine Person, the primeval God, unborn, and omnipresent."
Meaning
Param Brahma The highest Self. The word Param indicates the pure and attributeless Absolute, free from the limiting adjuncts. It is Satchidananda Brahman. The inferior Brahman is the Brahman with alities (Saguna) or Isvara, Brahman with the limiting adjuncts or the chosen object of meditation by the devotees.Param Dhama means Param Tejah or the supreme light. From the Creator down to the blade of grass the Supreme Being is the support or substratum. Therefore He is known as the supreme abode.Adideva The primeval God or the original God Who existed before all other gods. This God is Para Brahman Itself. It is selfluminous.Pavitram Paramam Supreme purifier. The sacred rivers and holy places of pilgrimage can remove only the sins but Para Brahman can destroy all sins and ignorance, the root cause of all sins. Therefore Para Brahman or the Supreme Self is the supreme purifier.
After Swami Sivananda
Arjuna asks to see more· 10.12–10.18→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
10.12Arjuna said, "You are the Supreme Brahman, the supreme abode, the supreme purifier, eternal, divine Person, the primeval God, unborn, and omnipresent."
- 10.13All the sages have thus declared Thee, as also the divine sage Narada; so also Asita, Devala, and Vyasa; and now Thou Thyself dost say so to me.
- 10.14I believe all that You have said to me to be true, O Krishna; indeed, O blessed Lord! Neither the gods nor the demons know Your manifestation (origin).
- 10.15Verily, Thou Thyself knowest Thyself by Thyself, O Supreme Person, O source and Lord of all beings, O God of gods, O ruler of the world!
- 10.16You should indeed tell, without reserve, of your divine glories by which you exist, pervading all these worlds. (No one else can do so.)
- 10.17How shall I, ever meditating, know you, O Yogin? In what aspects or things, O blessed Lord, should I think of you?
- 10.18Tell me again in detail, O Krishna, of your yogic power and glory; for I am not satiated with what I have heard of your life-giving and nectar-like speech.
Word-by-word→
- ajam
- the Unborn
- param
- Supreme
- brahma
- Brahman
- dhāma
- Abode
- divyam
- Divine
- vibhum
- the Great
- bhavān
- you
- paramam
- Supreme
- pavitram
- purifier
- puruṣham
- personality
- ādi-devam
- the Primal Being
- śhāśhvatam
- Eternal
- arjunaḥ uvācha
- Arjun said
Related verses
- 8.21What is known as the Unmanifested and the Imperishable, That is said to be the highest…
- 8.3The Blessed Lord said, "Brahman is the Imperishable, the Supreme; its essential nature is…
- 8.13Uttering the one-syllabled Om, the Brahman, and remembering Me, he who departs, leaving…
- 8.19This same multitude of beings, being born again and again, helplessly dissolves, O Arjuna,…