Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
वेदानां सामवेदोऽस्मि देवानामस्मि वासवः ।
इन्द्रियाणां मनश्चास्मि भूतानामस्मि चेतना ॥२२॥
vedānāṁ sāma-vedo ’smi
devānām asmi vāsavaḥ
indriyāṇāṁ manaś cāsmi
bhūtānām asmi cetanā
Word for word (synonyms)
- vedānām
- of all the *Vedas*
- sāma-vedaḥ
- the *Sāma-veda*
- asmi
- I am
- devānām
- of all the demigods
- asmi
- I am
- vāsavaḥ
- heavenly king
- indriyāṇām
- of all the senses
- manaḥ
- the mind
- ca
- also
- asmi
- I am
- bhūtānām
- of all living entities
- asmi
- I am
- cetanā
- the living force
Translation
Of the Vedas I am the Sāma-veda; of the demigods I am Indra; of the senses I am the mind, and in living beings I am the living force [knowledge].
Defined in the Gītā
Knowledge
What is knowledge?
Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.
Purport
The difference between matter and spirit is that matter has no consciousness like the living entity; therefore this consciousness is supreme and eternal. Consciousness cannot be produced by a combination of matter.
What this verse teaches
Various opulences of Kṛṣṇa (See the table)
- Themes
- Self-control
In thematic compilations 1
- Lord Kṛṣṇa says that He is the mind amongst all senses. (10.22 indriyāṇāṁ manaś cāsmi)
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.