Bhagavad Gita BG 7.8
Chapter 7, Verse 8 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
रसोऽहमप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशिसूर्ययोः । प्रणवः सर्ववेदेषु शब्दः खे पौरुषं नृषु ॥
raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhasmi shashi-suryayoh pranavah sarva-vedeshu shabdah khe paurusham nrshu
Meaning
I am the taste in water, O Kaunteya; I am the radiance in the moon and sun; I am the syllable OM in all the Vedas; I am the sound in ether; I am the virility in humans.
Understanding
The beginning of a series of specific divine self-revelations. Krishna identifies himself as: rasa in water (the very taste that makes water water — its essence), prabha in moon and sun (the luminosity, the light), pranava (OM) in all Vedas (the fundamental vibration underlying all sacred sound), shabda in akasha/ether (the capacity for sound in space), and paurusha in humans (virility, vitality, power of personhood). These are not metaphors for 'I created these' but: I AM the essential quality, the innermost essence of each.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| रसः | rasah | taste, essence, juice (the characteristic quality) |
| प्रभा | prabha | radiance, light, brilliance |
| प्रणवः | pranavah | the syllable OM, the primordial sound |
| शब्दः | shabdah | sound (here: the capacity for sound in ether) |
| पौरुषम् | paurusham | virility, vitality, power of personhood |
| रसः | rasaḥ | taste, essence |
| अहम् | aham | I am |
| अप्सु | apsu | in the waters |
| कौन्तेय | kaunteya | O Arjuna (son of Kunti) |
| प्रभा | prabhā | radiance, light |
| अस्मि | asmi | I am |
| शाशि-सूर्ययोः | śaśi-sūryayoḥ | of the moon and sun |
| प्रणवः | praṇavaḥ | the syllable Om |
| सर्व-वेदेषु | sarva-vedeṣu | in all the Vedas |
| शब्दः | śabdaḥ | sound |
| खे | khe | in space, ether |
| पौरुषम् | pauruṣam | virility, valor |
| नृषु | nṛṣu | in human beings, in men |