Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञः स्वधाहमहमौषधम् ।
मन्त्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम् ॥१६॥
ahaṁ kratur ahaṁ yajñaḥ
svadhāham aham auṣadham
mantro 'ham aham evājyam
aham agnir ahaṁ hutam
Word for word (synonyms)
- aham
- I
- kratuḥ
- ritual
- aham
- I
- yajñaḥ
- sacrifice
- svadhā
- oblation
- aham
- I
- aham
- I
- auṣadham
- healing herb
- mantraḥ
- transcendental chant
- aham
- I
- aham
- I
- eva
- certainly
- ajyam
- melted butter
- aham
- I
- agniḥ
- fire
- aham
- I
- hutam
- offering
Translation
But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the offering.
Defined in the Gītā
Sacrifice
Which sacrifice is the greatest?
O chastiser of the enemy, the sacrifice of knowledge is greater than the sacrifice of material possessions. O son of Pṛthā, after all, the sacrifice of work culminates in transcendental knowledge.
Purport
The sacrifice known as jyotiṣṭoma is also Kṛṣṇa, and He is also the mahā-yajña The oblations offered to the Pitṛloka or the sacrifice performed to please the Pitṛloka, considered as a kind of drug in the form of clarified butter, is also Kṛṣṇa. The mantras chanted in this connection are also Kṛṣṇa. And many other commodities made with milk products for offering in the sacrifices are also Kṛṣṇa. The fire is also Kṛṣṇa because fire is one of the five material elements and is therefore claimed as the separated energy of Kṛṣṇa. In other words, the Vedic sacrifices recommended in the karma-kāṇḍa division of the Vedas are in total also Kṛṣṇa. Or, in other words, those who are engaged in rendering devotional service unto Kṛṣṇa are to be understood to have performed all the sacrifices recommended in the Vedas.
What this verse teaches
Kṛṣṇa is the various elements of all sacrifices
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 1
- Bhagavad-gītā 9.15–18 1966-12-02 · New York
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.