Bhagavad Gita 10.25
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 25 of 42
महर्षीणां भृगुरहं गिरामस्म्येकमक्षरम् | यज्ञानां जपयज्ञोऽस्मि स्थावराणां हिमालयः ||२५||
maharṣīṇāṃ bhṛgur ahaṃ girām asmy ekam akṣaram | yajñānāṃ japa-yajño'smi sthāvarāṇāṃ himālayaḥ || 25 ||
Among great sages I am Bhṛgu; among words, OM; among yajñas, japa; among immovable heights, the Himālaya.
Word by word (3)
- maharṣīṇāṃ bhṛguḥ aham
- — Among the great seers I am Bhṛgu · maharṣīṇāṃ = among the great rishis (genitive plural of maharṣi = maha + ṛṣi = great seer; maharṣi = one who has 'seen' — in the sense of direct spiritual perception — at the highest level; the maharṣis are the seers of the Vedic hymns). bhṛguḥ = Bhṛgu (one of the seven great primordial sages — Saptarṣis; also among the Prajāpatis and Brahmarṣis; Bhṛgu was taught directly by Brahmā and is the progenitor of the Bhārgava lineage; known for severe tapas and fire-association; the name Bhṛgu may connect to √bhrāj = to shine/blaze, associating him with fire and brilliance). aham = I. Bhṛgu is chosen as the vibhūti among the maharṣis for a combination of reasons: (1) extreme tapas (austerity) — his fire-association marks him as the most intensely disciplined; (2) antiquity — Bhṛgu is among the most ancient of the Vedic sages; (3) teaching lineage — his teaching passed to Vitihotra and is recorded in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (the Bhṛgu Vallī: the recursive meditation on brahman culminating in 'ānando brahmeti vyajānāt — he came to know that bliss is brahman').
- girām asmi ekam akṣaram
- — Among words/speech I am the one syllable — OM · girām = among words, among speech (genitive plural of gir = word, speech, hymn — from √gṛ = to call, to sing, to speak; girām = 'of words, of speech-forms, of hymns'). asmi = I am. ekam = one, single (cardinal adjective — 'the one, single, alone'). akṣaram = the syllable, the imperishable (akṣara = a + kṣara = 'imperishable, undecaying'; also akṣara = syllable, letter — because the syllable is the indestructible unit of speech; the two meanings overlap perfectly in OM: OM is both the single syllable and the imperishable/akṣara in the Upaniṣadic sense). ekam akṣaram = 'the single syllable' = OM (the praṇava; the most sacred syllable in the tradition; Ch.8 discussed OM extensively: V8.13: oṃ ity ekākṣaraṃ brahma — OM: this single syllable is Brahman). OM as the vibhūti among ALL words/speech is the clearest possible statement: every word ultimately points back to this single syllable that contains all speech. All the vibhūtis of language (the Sāma Veda in V22, the Vedas, the Gita's own words) are expressions of OM. It is the most concentrated vibhūti in the speech-domain.
- yajñānāṃ japa-yajñaḥ asmi sthāvarāṇāṃ himālayaḥ
- — Among yajñas I am japa-yajña; among immovable things, the Himālaya · yajñānāṃ = among sacrifices/yajñas (genitive plural of yajña = ritual sacrifice, offering — from √yaj = to sacrifice, to worship). japa-yajñaḥ = the yajña of japa (japa = muttered repetition, silent repetition of a divine name or mantra — from √jap = to repeat quietly; japa-yajña = 'the sacrifice of silent repetition'). asmi = I am. V4.24-30 catalogued many types of yajña; among all of them, japa-yajña is chosen as the vibhūti. Why japa? SW: it is the most internalized form of yajña — no external apparatus, no priest, no fire, no materials. Pure inner repetition. The divine's most concentrated expression among all ritual forms is the one that requires only the inner attention — accessible to everyone, at all times, in all circumstances. This connects directly to V9.27's 'whatever you do, do it as mad-arpaṇam' — japa-yajña IS the continuous mad-arpaṇam of the inner voice. sthāvarāṇāṃ = among immovable things (genitive plural of sthāvara = immovable, fixed — from sthā = to stand; sthāvara = 'standing ones, immovable things': mountains, trees, rocks, all non-moving beings). himālayaḥ = the Himālaya (hima = snow/ice + ālaya = abode/home; Himālaya = 'abode of snow'; the greatest mountain range on earth, home of Śiva/Pārvatī, source of the great rivers — Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Brahmaputra — the most cosmically significant geographic feature of the Indian subcontinent). Among all immovable things (mountains, stones, trees, earth itself), the Himālaya is the most prominent — the largest, the oldest, the most sacred. Contrast with V10.23's Meru (cosmological axis) and V10.25's Himālaya (geographic prominence): two aspects of mountain-vibhūti.
Among the great seers I am Bhṛgu; among words I am the single syllable Om; among sacrifices I am the sacrifice of silent prayer; and among things unmoving I am the Himālaya.
A modern analogy
This verse's naming of japa-yajña (silent repetition) as the most prominent form of sacrifice parallels modern neuroscience's understanding of mantra and repetition practice: sustained single-pointed repetition produces distinctive brain-state changes (default mode network quieting, prefrontal activation) that no elaborate external ritual replicates as consistently. The divine's most concentrated expression in ritual is the one that most effectively transforms the inner landscape — japa, which requires only the inner attention.
What it does NOT mean
Naming the single syllable OM (ekam akṣaram) is not saying all other words are non-divine. All words ultimately express the divine's speech. OM is the one in which the essential quality of 'word' (the signifier that points to the ultimate) is most purely concentrated. All words in all languages point to something; OM, the praṇava, points to Brahman itself without any intermediate concept — it is pure pointing-sound. This makes it the foremost (prādhānya) among all speech-forms.
Take with you
- Take japa-yajña — silent repetition, named here as the foremost among all forms of sacrifice — as the most accessible spiritual practice: no materials, no location, no time requirement, no expertise needed. Any name of the divine, any sacred syllable, repeated silently in the heart — this is the most concentrated divine expression in the ritual domain. If you have no other practice, japa is sufficient. The verse says so explicitly: among ALL yajñas (rituals), japa is where the divine is most concentrated.
- Take OM, the single syllable among all words: start and end meditation with OM. Not as a ritual formality but as recognition: 'among all the words I will use today, OM is the one where the divine is most concentrated in speech.' The OM before meditation settles the speech; the OM after meditation seals the inner recognition. Three sounds: A-U-M (waking, dreaming, deep sleep states united in OM = turīya, the fourth).
- Take the Himālaya, named here among immovable things, as a stability-practice: the Himālaya is the planet's greatest example of stability under pressure (the tectonic forces that created it are still active; it is the most geologically dynamic stable structure on earth). When you face pressure that threatens to destabilize: invoke the Himālaya's quality. Feel the spine as the cosmic mountain Meru, or the body as the Himālaya — immovable stability in the face of all forces.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Of the great Rishis I am Bhrigu; of words I am the one syllable 'Om'; of Yajnas I am the Yajna of Japa (silent repetition); of immovable things the Himalaya. [4]
I am Bhrigu among the great Rishis; among words I am Om; and among Yagnas I am the silent muttering of prayer; and among immovable things the Himalaya. [6]
And Bhrigu of the holy Saints, and OM of sacred speech; / Of prayers the prayer ye whisper; of hills Himala' [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Uttering OM — the single syllable of Brahman — departing while meditating on Me, one reaches the highest goal.
Some offer to the gods as yajna. Others offer yajna itself into the fire of Brahman — the practice becomes the offering.
Whatever is sacrificed, given, done, or tapas practiced without śraddhā — that is asat: naught here or hereafter.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
Brahman is the Imperishable; Adhyātma is its presence in each body; Karma is the cosmic offering sustaining all beings.
At creation, the Creator embedded yajna into existence itself — give and the cosmos gives back.
Verse 25 of 42 · back to Chapter 10