Bhagavad Gita 10.28
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 28 of 42
आयुधानामहं वज्रं धेनूनामस्मि कामधुक् | प्रजनश्चास्मि कन्दर्पः सर्पाणामस्मि वासुकिः ||२८||
āyudhānām ahaṃ vajraṃ dhenūnām asmi kāmadhuk | prajanaś cāsmi kandarpaḥ sarpāṇām asmi vāsukiḥ || 28 ||
Among weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows, Kāmadhuk; among progenitors, Kāmadeva; among serpents, Vāsuki.
Word by word (3)
- āyudhānām ahaṃ vajraṃ
- — Among weapons I am the thunderbolt (vajra) · āyudhānāṃ = among weapons (genitive plural of āyudha = weapon — from ā + √yudh = to fight; āyudhāni = 'weapons, instruments of war'). ahaṃ = I. vajraṃ = the thunderbolt (vajra = 'thunderbolt, diamond' — from vajra = hard, the hardest thing; Indra's weapon, forged from the bones of the sage Dadhīca by the divine craftsman Tvaṣṭṛ; the weapon that destroys the demon Vṛtra who had blocked the rains; the vajra is the most powerful divine weapon — both the weapon that destroys demonic obstruction and the hardest of all materials = diamond). Among all weapons, the vajra (thunderbolt) is the most powerful — it combines the divine weapon function (Indra's weapon against the forces blocking cosmic order) with the hardest material quality (vajra = diamond). The thunderbolt vibhūti: where destructive power is exercised in service of restoring cosmic order, that is the divine's concentrated expression.
- dhenūnām asmi kāmadhuk
- — Among cows I am Kāmadhuk (the wish-fulfilling cow) · dhenūnāṃ = among cows (genitive plural of dhenu = cow, milk-cow — from √dhā = to give; dhenu = 'the giving one, the nourishing one'). asmi = I am. kāmadhuk = the Kāmadhenu/Kāmadhuk (kāma = desire + dhuk = milking; kāmadhuk = 'the one who fulfills all desires by milking them'; also called Surabhī — the divine wish-fulfilling cow who grants all desires; also arose from the cosmic ocean-churning alongside Uccaiḥśravas and Airāvata). The Kāmadhenu is the embodiment of the cow's highest quality: complete nourishing generosity — the 'milking' of any desire from a place of infinite abundance. SW translation: 'the cow of plenty.' Judge: 'Kamaduk, the cow of plenty.' Arnold: 'white Kamadhuk, / From whose great milky udder-teats all hearts' desires are strook.'
- prajanaḥ ca asmi kandarpaḥ — sarpāṇām asmi vāsukiḥ
- — Among progenitors I am Kāmadeva (Love); among serpents I am Vāsuki · prajanaḥ = the cause of offspring, the progenitor (pra + jana = forward-birth; prajanana = procreation; prajanaḥ = 'the cause of generation, of procreation'). ca = and. asmi = I am. kandarpaḥ = Kandarpā (the god of love — also called Kāmadeva, Manmatha, Madana; kanda = joy/excitement + arpa = causing/generating; Kandarpā = 'the exciter of passion'; the divine personification of desire/love who moves all beings toward procreation and continuation of life; V3.37 identified kāma/desire as the 'great enemy' in its rajasic form; but V10.28's Kandarpā is kāma in its dharma-aligned form: the love that generates life and continuation, not the kāma that binds). sarpāṇāṃ = among the serpents (genitive plural of sarpa = serpent — from √sṛp = to creep). asmi = I am. vāsukiḥ = Vāsuki (the king of the Nāgas/serpents — the great serpent who was used as the churning rope in the cosmic ocean-churning; vāsuki = possibly from vāsa = dwelling + √ki; Vāsuki is the lord of all serpents). The two final vibhūtis in V28: Kandarpā (love-as-procreation = the creative force that continues existence) and Vāsuki (king of serpents = the cosmological serpent who enables even the cosmic churning).
Among weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows, the wish-fulfilling Kāmadhenu; I am the love-god who begets, and among serpents I am Vāsuki.
A modern analogy
This verse's four divine expressions represent four kinds of concentration: (1) the thunderbolt = concentrated destructive-purifying power in service of order; (2) Kāmadhuk = concentrated abundance that fulfills all genuine needs; (3) Kandarpā = concentrated creative love that perpetuates life; (4) Vāsuki = concentrated structural support that enables cosmic production. All four are expressions of how the divine is most concentrated in power, abundance, creativity, and structural support.
What it does NOT mean
Naming Kandarpā (Kāmadeva, love as progenitor) must not be confused with desire named elsewhere as 'the great enemy.' The Gita distinguishes: desire (kāma) as rajasic grasping = the enemy — desire and anger, born of rajas, all-devouring; but desire as dharma-aligned love that perpetuates life = a divine expression. The Gita has already said elsewhere: I am the desire in beings that does not conflict with dharma. Here, Kandarpā is kāma in its dharmic form: the creative force of love that generates life and continuation. This is one of the Gita's most nuanced teachings: the same energy (kāma) is destructive when bound to ego and creative when aligned with dharma.
Take with you
- Take the thunderbolt (vajra) as a model for decisive action: when the situation genuinely requires it, decisive, targeted action (vajra-style) is the appropriate response. Not aggression — but clarity and precision in destroying what genuinely obstructs the good. The vajra doesn't hesitate; it doesn't scatter; it goes directly to the obstruction. This verse gives divine sanction to this quality of action when exercised for cosmic-order purposes.
- Take Kāmadhuk as the model for generosity: the wish-fulfilling cow gives from inexhaustible abundance. Generosity that flows from a sense of abundance (not scarcity) has the Kāmadhuk quality. The practice: before any act of giving, briefly touch the sense of inner abundance (the consciousness that lives in all beings and is itself inexhaustible). Give from that fullness, not from a depleted sense of duty. This is Kāmadhuk-generosity.
- Take Kandarpā (dharmic love, Kāmadeva) as a reflection on the Gita's earlier teaching, 'I am desire that does not violate dharma.' The divine is in the love that generates life, connection, and continuation. Where in your life does love (kāma in its dharmic form) most powerfully generate flourishing? That is Kandarpā at work.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Of weapons I am the thunderbolt, of cows I am Kamadhuk; I am the Kandarpa, the cause of offspring; of serpents I am Vasuki. [4]
Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows, Kamaduk, the cow of plenty; of procreators, the God of love, and of serpents, Vasuki, their chief. [6]
Of weapons Heav'n's hot thunderbolt; of cows white Kamadhuk, / From whose great milky udder-teats all hearts' desires are strook; / Vasuki of the serpent-tribes [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
I am the strength of the strong, free from craving — and the desire in beings that does not conflict with dharma.
The enemy is desire and anger, born of rajas — all-devouring, all-sinful. Know this as your internal enemy.
For those freed from desire and anger, with controlled minds, knowing the Self — brahma-nirvāṇa exists on all sides.
Again, O mighty-armed — hear My supreme word: I speak it to you who love Me, out of desire for your welfare.
Darkness, inertness, heedlessness, and delusion arise — know that tamas is predominant.
Driven by insatiable kāma, hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, gripping false notions through moha — impure resolves.
Verse 28 of 42 · back to Chapter 10