Bhagavad Gita 10.41
Spoken by Krishna ☆ Key verse · Verse 41 of 42
यद्यद्विभूतिमत्सत्त्वं श्रीमदूर्जितमेव वा | तत्तदेवावगच्छ त्वं मम तेजोऽंशसम्भवम् ||४१||
yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṃ śrīmad ūrjitam eva vā | tat tad evāvagaccha tvaṃ mama tejo'ṃśa-sambhavam || 41 ||
Whatever being has excellence, prosperity, or power — know it as born from a fragment of My splendor.
Word by word (3)
- yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṃ
- — Whatever being that has vibhūti (divine excellence/power) · yad yad = whatever whatever (double relative pronoun — 'in every case where'; yad = which, what; the doubled yad emphasizes universality: 'in whatever case, in every case where'). vibhūtimat = having vibhūti (vibhūti + -mat = 'possessing vibhūti, endowed with vibhūti'; vibhūti = divine power, excellence, concentrated divine expression — from vi + bhū = to flourish supremely). sattvaṃ = being, creature, entity (sattva = 'a being, a creature, an existence' — from √as/bhū = to be; sattva = 'that which has being'; also means the quality of sattva/clarity, but here used in the sense of 'being, entity'). 'Whatever being that is endowed with vibhūti (excellence)' — this is the universal generalization that V10.19-V10.40's specific catalogue was training toward. The specific vibhūtis (Viṣṇu, Gaṅgā, Prahlāda, Vyāsa, silence, jñāna...) were examples; V10.41's yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṃ = 'whatever being has any of that — any excellence at all.' V10.41 is the rule; V10.20-V10.40 were the training examples.
- śrīmat ūrjitam eva vā
- — Beautiful/prosperous, or powerful/mighty · śrīmat = endowed with śrī (śrī + -mat = 'having śrī, prosperous, auspicious, beautiful, glorious'; śrī = 'prosperity, beauty, glory, auspiciousness, Lakṣmī'; śrīmat = 'the beautiful/glorious/auspicious one'; a standard honorific in Sanskrit — Śrīmad Bhagavad Gita = 'the glorious Bhagavad Gita'). ūrjitam = powerful, mighty, vigorous (ūrjita = 'endowed with ūrja = strength, energy, vigor'; ūrjita = 'the powerful one, the vigorous one' — from ūrja = nourishment/strength, related to Greek 'urgency'). eva = indeed (emphatic). vā = or. Three qualities: (1) vibhūtimat = having concentrated divine excellence, (2) śrīmat = beautiful/prosperous/auspicious, (3) ūrjitam = powerful/mighty. These three span the full spectrum of recognizable excellence: V10.41 is saying — wherever you recognize excellence in any form (achievement, beauty, power) — in ALL those cases, understand it as the divine's tejas-fragment.
- tat tad eva avagaccha tvaṃ mama tejaḥ aṃśa sambhavam
- — Know all that as arising from a fragment of My tejas (splendor/power) · tat tad eva = all that, precisely that (double demonstrative echoing yad yad — 'whatever whatever... all that, all that exactly'); the doubling mirrors the opening: every case where excellence appears is covered by this principle. avagaccha = know, understand (second person imperative of ava + √gam = to go; avagaccha = 'go toward understanding, know clearly' — a direct instruction to Arjuna). tvaṃ = you (emphatic). mama = My (genitive of aham). tejaḥ = splendor, power, fiery energy (tejas = 'the sharp/brilliant one' — from √tej = to sharpen; tejas = fiery energy, brilliance, power, dignity; tejas is the quality of concentrated concentrated power-and-brilliance, of the shining that is also the burning; tejas is the quality that V10.36's tejaḥ tejasvinām pointed to). aṃśa = a portion, a fragment, a share (aṃśa = 'a part, a portion, a fraction' — from √aṃś = to divide; aṃśa = the fragment of a whole). sambhavam = arising from, born from (sambhava = 'arising, originating' — from sam + √bhū = to become together, to arise from; sambhava = 'the arising, the origination'). 'Know all that as arising from a portion of My tejas.' This is V10.41's teaching in its complete form: every manifestation of excellence — beauty, power, achievement, concentrated divine quality — is mama tejoṃśasambhavam: arising from a PORTION (aṃśa) of the divine's tejas. Not from the divine itself directly, not identical with the divine, but from a FRACTION. This preserves the divine's transcendence (the divine is infinite; the vibhūtis are its fractions) while asserting its immanence (the divine's tejas is present in every excellence).
Whatever is glorious, beautiful, or mighty — know that it springs from but a fragment of My splendor.
A modern analogy
This verse's tejoṃśasambhavam (arising from a portion of My radiance) parallels the physics of light: the sun radiates in all directions; a focused magnifying glass concentrates that radiant energy to a point that can ignite a fire. The fire is 'born from a fragment of the sun's energy' — aṃśasambhavam. Every vibhūti (concentrated excellence) is like that focused point: born from a fragment of the infinite divine radiance, not all of it (the sun doesn't diminish), not separate from it (the fire's energy IS solar energy), but a concentrated expression of a portion of it.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's mama tejoṃśasambhavam (arising from a fragment/portion of My tejas) is NOT saying all beings are identical with the divine. The word aṃśa (portion, fragment) is philosophically precise: a fragment of the divine's tejas — not the tejas itself. The Advaita/Vishishtadvaita/Dvaita traditions all interpret this differently (Advaita: appearances within the One; Vishishtadvaita: body-parts of the divine; Dvaita: real but dependent). But all three agree on this verse's central claim: wherever excellence appears, the divine's tejas is present as its source.
Take with you
- This verse as a daily recognition practice: the synthesis of the vibhūti teaching in one instruction — 'wherever excellence appears, know it as the divine's tejas-fragment.' Starting today: whenever you notice excellence in any person, natural phenomenon, creative work, or event — pause and briefly recognize: 'This is mama tejoṃśasambhavam — a concentrated expression of the divine's own power.' This transforms envy into recognition, and reverence into a constant state.
- This verse's three-quality check for recognizing vibhūtis: it gives three markers of the divine's tejas-presence: (1) vibhūtimat = has concentrated excellence/power in its domain, (2) śrīmat = has beauty, prosperity, auspiciousness, (3) ūrjitam = has vigor/might/energy. When you encounter a being or phenomenon with any of these three qualities strongly expressed — that is the divine's tejas-fragment at work. The three markers are the recognition criteria.
- This verse as a completion of the vibhūti catalogue practice: having studied the 20-plus specific vibhūtis — from the inner Self seated in all beings to the boundless extent that has no end — now practice this verse's principle: without referring to the catalogue, look at your world today and identify 5 things that are vibhūtimat (excellent), śrīmat (beautiful/prosperous), or ūrjitam (powerful/mighty). For each, briefly recognize: tejoṃśasambhavam (this is born from the divine's radiant fragment). This is the transfer of training from examples to principle.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Whatever being there is great, prosperous, or powerful, that know thou to be a product of a part of My splendour. [4]
Whatever creature is permanent, of good fortune or mighty, also know it to be sprung from a portion of my energy. [6]
For wheresoe'er is wondrous work, and majesty, and might, / From Me hath all proceeded. Receive thou this aright! [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
I shall tell you My foremost divine manifestations, O best of Kurus — My nature's extent is without end.
I am the gambling of the fraudulent and the power of the powerful; victory, effort, and the sattva of the sattvika.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
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.
Verse 41 of 42 · back to Chapter 10