Bhagavad Gita 10.29
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 29 of 42
अनन्तश्चास्मि नागानां वरुणो यादसामहम् | पितॄणामर्यमा चास्मि यमः संयमतामहम् ||२९||
anantaś cāsmi nāgānāṃ varuṇo yādasām aham | pitṝṇām aryamā cāsmi yamaḥ saṃyamatām aham || 29 ||
Among Nāgas I am Ananta; among water-beings, Varuṇa; among the ancestors, Aryamā; among those who judge, Yama.
Word by word (3)
- anantaḥ ca asmi nāgānāṃ
- — Among the Nāgas I am Ananta (Śeṣa) · anantaḥ = Ananta, the infinite one (a = not + anta = end; ananta = 'infinite, without end'; the name of the cosmic serpent Śeṣa who serves as Viṣṇu's couch and the support of the world). ca = and. asmi = I am. nāgānāṃ = among the Nāgas (genitive plural of Nāga = divine serpent; distinction from sarpa = V10.28's Vāsuki: sarpa = the ordinary serpent class; Nāga = the divine, semi-human serpent beings associated with wisdom, water, and the underworld; the Nāgas dwell in Pātāla = the underworld and are guardians of hidden wisdom and treasure). V28 gave Vāsuki (king of the sarpas = ordinary serpents); V29 gives Ananta (king of the Nāgas = divine serpents). The two serpent vibhūtis cover different domains: Vāsuki = the structural serpent of the cosmic churning; Ananta = the infinite supporting serpent on whom Viṣṇu rests between cosmic cycles. Ananta (= Śeṣa = 'the remainder') supports all existence between creations — he IS the infinite support of reality.
- varuṇaḥ yādasām aham
- — I am Varuṇa among water-beings · varuṇaḥ = Varuṇa (the ancient Vedic deity of cosmic order, water, and moral law — one of the oldest and most majestic of the Vedic deities; Varuṇa 'covers' the sky and water; associated with ṛta = the cosmic order; in later mythology, the deity of the oceans and all water; keeper of the cosmic order, the one who sees all truth and punishes those who violate the moral law). yādasāṃ = among water-beings (genitive plural of yādas = aquatic creature, water-being — from yā = water; yādasāṃ = 'among water beings/creatures'). aham = I. Among all water-beings (fish, sea-creatures, aquatic creatures), the divine is most concentrated in Varuṇa — the cosmic order-deity of the waters. Note: V10.24 gave the sāgara (ocean) as the vibhūti among bodies of water; V10.29 gives Varuṇa as the vibhūti among the beings IN the water. Both are water vibhūtis but from different angles: the water itself (sāgara) vs. the ruling deity of the water-beings (Varuṇa).
- pitṝṇāṃ aryamā ca asmi — yamaḥ saṃyamatām aham
- — Among the ancestors I am Aryamā; among those who maintain order, I am Yama · pitṝṇāṃ = among the ancestors (genitive plural of pitṛ = father, ancestor — the pitṝs = the ancestors who reside in their own realm (pitṛ-loka) and receive offerings from their descendants through the śrāddha/piṇḍa rites). aryamā = Aryamā (one of the 12 Ādityas — the deity of ancestors and the marriage bond; Aryamā presides over the rituals for ancestors and over the sacred bond of marriage; among the ancestors, Aryamā is the most prominent deity because he is specifically the one who represents the sacred ties between generations — the one who maintains the continuity of lineage). ca = and. asmi = I am. yamaḥ = Yama (the god of dharma, justice, and death — the judge of the dead, the lord of the dharma-realm; Yama applies the cosmic law of karma after death, giving each soul the consequences of their actions). saṃyamatāṃ = among those who maintain/control/judge (genitive plural of saṃyamana = controller, regulator — from sam + √yam = to control; saṃyamatāṃ = 'among those who regulate/judge/control'). aham = I. yamaḥ saṃyamatāṃ aham = 'Among those who maintain order and judgment, I am Yama.' Yama is not just the death-deity but the dharma-deity — the cosmic application of the law of karma. His role as saṃyamana (controller/regulator) makes him the vibhūti of all who maintain order through just regulation.
Among the serpent-spirits I am Ananta; among water-beings I am Varuṇa; among the ancestors I am Aryamā; and among those who keep order, I am Yama.
A modern analogy
This verse's Ananta — the infinite support under all existence — parallels the concept of the quantum vacuum in physics: the underlying field from which all particles arise and into which they dissolve, while remaining itself inexhaustible. Viṣṇu rests on Ananta between cosmic cycles: the divine creative power rests on the infinite support. Ananta says: wherever there is the quality of inexhaustible support sustaining existence — that is the divine's most concentrated expression in the Nāga domain.
What it does NOT mean
Naming Yama (among those who control and judge) is not death as something to fear. Yama as a divine expression represents the principle of cosmic justice — karma's law applied with perfect impartiality. The Gita's image of Brahmā's day and night, and its declaration that the divine is both life and death, frame death as part of the divine's full arc. Yama means: wherever justice is applied impartially, wherever consequences follow actions with perfect accuracy — that IS the divine's concentrated expression.
Take with you
- Take Ananta (the infinite, the endless) as a meditation on groundlessness: Ananta supports all existence without itself being supported (he is the infinite — no bottom, no foundation underneath him). Sit with this: what is it that is ALWAYS here, supporting your awareness, requiring no further support? That always-present quality of awareness — the consciousness the divine has named as itself in all living beings — is your personal Ananta, the inexhaustible ground that needs nothing under it.
- Take Yama (the dharma-judge, the principle of self-restraint) as an invitation for self-honest accounting: Yama sees all without distortion — he is the cosmic truth-function that applies consequences with perfect impartiality. Once a year (or once a month): conduct a personal Yama-review — what actions have you taken? What consequences have naturally followed? Not self-punishment — impartial observation of the karmic pattern. This is Yama as self-practice.
- Take Aryamā (ancestral continuity) as a practice of honoring lineage: Aryamā is the deity of the sacred bond between generations. Once a year: reflect on what you have received from those who came before (parents, grandparents, teachers, tradition). Offer a conscious gesture of gratitude. This is the śrāddha practice in its essential form — recognizing Aryamā in the living chain of transmission.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
And Ananta of snakes I am, I am Varuna of water-beings; and Aryaman of Pitris I am, I am Yama of controllers. [4]
I am Ananta among the Nagas, Varuna among things of the waters; among the ancestors, Aryana, and of all who judge I am Yama. [6]
and thousand-fanged Ananta, on whose broad coils reclined / Leans Vishnu; and of water-things Varuna; Aryam / Of Pitris, and, of those that judge, Yama the Judge I am [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Those who know Brahma's Day as a thousand yugas and his Night as a thousand yugas — they know day and night truly.
I am the Father, Mother, Sustainer, Grandfather, Purifier, the knowable, OM — and the three Vedas.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
For the protection of the good, destruction of wickedness, establishment of dharma — I come, age after age.
I am Time, the world-destroyer — even without you, none of these warriors shall survive; they are already slain!
Verse 29 of 42 · back to Chapter 10