ahamaatmaa gudaakesha sarvabhootaashayasthitah
ahamaadishcha madhyam cha bhootaanaamanta eve cha // 10.20 //
I am the Self, O Gudakesa, seated in the hearts of all beings; I am the beginning, the middle and also the end of all beings.
The Lord tells Arjuna `I am the Self that exists in the heart of all beings'. This general statement is the sum and substance of His entire talk in Gita. He specifically tells that He is the birth, life and death of all beings. The world is a living whole, a vast inter connectedness, a cosmic harmony inspired and sustained by the One Supreme.
If one is unable to meditate on the Lord as the Self, then one should think of Him in the various beings and things enumerated in the following verses as a special manifestation of the Godhead, for the Lord is the essence of all the things
aadityaanaamaham vishnur jyotishaam raviramshumaan
mareechirmarutaamasmi nakshatraanaamaham shashee // 10.21 //
Among the (twelve) Adityas I am the Vishnu ; among the luminaries, the radiant sun; I am Marichi among the winds; among the stars I am the moon.
Adityas are Gods representing the twelve months of the year. Vishnu is considered the most important among them. Maruts are the gods controlling the winds. The twelve Adityas, luminaries like Agni, Lightning, the Maruts, the Stars etc. are the ordinary manifestations of The Lord. Vishnu, Marichi, the sun and the moon are his special manifestations and hence they have greater splendor in them.
While the Supreme is in all things, He is more prominent in some than in others. There is an ascending order in the world. God is more revealed in life than in matter, in consciousness than in life and in saints and sages than in others. Within the same order, He is most revealed in the pre-eminent individuals.
In all these verses of this Chapter Sri Krishna supplies the seekers with various items of thought (names and forms) over which The Lord can be superimposed for deeper and single-pointed meditation.
vedaanaam saamavedo'smi devaanaamasmi vaasavah
indriyaanaam manashchaasmi bhootaanaamasmi chetanaa // 10.22 //
Among the Vedas I am the Sama Veda; I am Vaasava among the Gods; among the senses I am the mind and I am the intelligence among living beings.
Sama Veda - It is the essence of Rig Veda which is the most important of all the four Vedas. Sama Veda has the additional characteristic of musical beauty with tunes, melody and rhythm. Sri Krishna is the Infinite Essence tuned to music as Rig Veda mantras are in Sama Veda.
Vaasava - The king of gods, Indra. The Self is as Indra among the Gods, ruling over the others, controlling, directing and organizing the lives.
Mind - Indra also means the king of sense organs, the latter being the Devas. Mind is the controller without which sense organs cannot have the power of functioning.
Intelligence - Of all the creations in the world intelligence is the mysterious power which is still beyond comprehension. It is that which illumines all from the intellect down to the grossest physical object.
rudraanaam shankarashchaasmi vittesho yaksharakshasaam
vasoonaam paavakashchaasmi meruh shikharinaamaham // 10.23 //
And among the Rudras I am Sankara; among the Yakshas and Rakshasas Kubera, the Lord of wealth; among the Vasus I am Pavaka, Agni; and among the mountains I am the Meru.
Rudras - Deities of destruction. Destruction is a necessary precedent for construction just as the seed must perish to enable the plant to come out. Sankara is the deity for creative destruction.
Pavaka - Vasus are the deities presiding over the seasons. The six external seasons get colored by two internal seasons viz. joy and sorrow and all of these can be experienced only through Consciousness within.
Meru - A mythological mountain believed to be the centre of the Universe from which Ganga (Spiritual Knowledge) flows in all four directions to bless the humanity.
purodhasaam cha mukhyam maam viddhi paartha brihaspatim
senaaneenaamaham skandah sarasaamasmi saagarah // 10.24 //
And, among the household priests, O Partha, know Me the chief, Brihaspati; among the generals, I am Skanda; among the lakes, I am the ocean.
Brihaspati - The spiritual teacher for the celestials. Skanda- Son of Siva the peacock rider and the wielder of the spear. Ocean - It is the source of all rivers because from it the evaporation of water takes place to flood the rivers. Similarly the sentient and insentient things and beings of the world cannot exist but for the Infinite Ocean of Truth, The Lord.
maharsheenaam bhriguraham giraamasmyekamaksharam
yajnaanaam japayajno'smi sthaavaraanaam himaalayah // 10.25 //
Among the great sages I am Bhrigu; among words I am the one syllable"OM"; among sacrifices I am the sacrifice of silent repetition (Japa Yoga); among immovable things the Himalayas.
Bhrigu - He is the chief of the seven rishis. One syllable `OM' - It indicates the Eternal and Infinite. Japa Yoga - It is the repetition of the mantra or divine name by maintaining the same divine thoughts. Japa Yagna is regarded as the best of all Yagnas because it involves the unbroken remembrance of the Self. The Himalayas - It is great because it is the highest in the world and provides spiritual advancement to the seekers.