Devanagari
श्रीभगवानुवाच
हन्त ते कथयिष्यामि दिव्या ह्यात्मविभूतय: ।
प्राधान्यत: कुरुश्रेष्ठ नास्त्यन्तो विस्तरस्य मे ॥ १९ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
hanta te kathayiṣyāmi
divyā hy ātma-vibhūtayaḥ
prādhānyataḥ kuru-śreṣṭha
nāsty anto vistarasya me
Synonyms
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead said
;
hanta
—
yes
;
te
—
unto you
;
kathayiṣyāmi
—
I shall speak
;
divyāḥ
—
divine
;
hi
—
certainly
;
ātma-vibhūtayaḥ
—
personal opulences
;
prādhānyataḥ
—
which are principal
;
kuru-śreṣṭha
—
O best of the Kurus
;
na asti
—
there is not
;
antaḥ
—
limit
;
vistarasya
—
to the extent
;
me
—
My.
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Yes, I will tell you of My splendorous manifestations, but only of those which are prominent, O Arjuna, for My opulence is limitless.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
19. The Lord said: By My mercy, I will tell you about the chief of My excellent vibhūtis. O best of the Kurus, there is no end to My manifestations.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
19. By My mercy, I will tell you about the chief of My excellent vibhūtis. O best of the Kurus, there is no end to My manifestations.
Purport
It is not possible to comprehend the greatness of Kṛṣṇa and His opulences. The senses of the individual soul are limited and do not permit him to understand the totality of Kṛṣṇa’s affairs. Still the devotees try to understand Kṛṣṇa, but not on the principle that they will be able to understand Kṛṣṇa fully at any specific time or in any state of life. Rather, the very topics of Kṛṣṇa are so relishable that they appear to the devotees as nectar. Thus the devotees enjoy them. In discussing Kṛṣṇa’s opulences and His diverse energies, the pure devotees take transcendental pleasure. Therefore they want to hear and discuss them. Kṛṣṇa knows that living entities do not understand the extent of His opulences; He therefore agrees to state only the principal manifestations of His different energies. The word prādhānyataḥ (“principal”) is very important because we can understand only a few of the principal details of the Supreme Lord, for His features are unlimited. It is not possible to understand them all. And vibhūti, as used in this verse, refers to the opulences by which He controls the whole manifestation. In the Amara-kośa dictionary it is stated that vibhūti indicates an exceptional opulence.
The impersonalist or pantheist cannot understand the exceptional opulences of the Supreme Lord nor the manifestations of His divine energies. Both in the material world and in the spiritual world His energies are distributed in every variety of manifestation. Now Kṛṣṇa is describing what can be directly perceived by the common man; thus part of His variegated energy is described in this way.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Oh (hanta), out of mercy, I will tell you about these vibhūtis. I will speak of the chief ones, because there is no end to their number. Vibhutayaḥ is used for vibhutīḥ (feminine plural accusative). These vibhūtis are excellent (divya), not like grass or bricks. The word vibhūti includes both material and spiritual manifestations of power of the Lord. Because they all arise from the śakti of the Lord, they should all be considered as worthy of meditation as forms of the Lord, though some are preferable to others.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Being asked, the Lord here replies. Hanta here expresses compassion. Vibhūtayaḥ is again used instead of vibhūtīḥ.
I will speak about My vibhūtis which are remarkable, not like grass and bricks. I will speak of the chief ones, since there is no end to describing them all. The word vibhūti should be understood to mean powerful objects which exhibit the Lord’s sense of control. Amara Kośa says vibhūtis means power and wealth (vibhūtir bhūtir aiśvaryam). Common and refined items will be described in their capacity as vibhūtis. All of these should be thought of as the Lord’s self to some degree, in that they suggest the powers of the Lord of all things.
The approved, direct forms of the Lord have been described conclusively. Those forms are useful for meditation as they are. They should not be considered like the limited representations of His śakti, which are mentioned in this chapter.
Surrender Unto Me
Here Krsna uses the word 'hanta', which means also 'dear one'. Like sometimes two lovers address each other by the word 'honey', meaning 'very dear', here also Krsna applies this intimate word to address Arjuna.
First Krsna will describe His spiritual energy.
[2. Krsna says that He is the Supersou, the sun, the moon, Lord Siva, Mount Meru, the ocean, OM, japa, the Himalayas, the monarch, the thunderbolt, Yamaraja, time, the wind, the shark, death, spring, gambling, splendor, adventure, strength, silence, and wisdom. (20‑38) ]