Devanagari
अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थित: ।
अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च ॥ २० ॥
Verse text
aham ātmā guḍākeśa
sarva-bhūtāśaya-sthitaḥ
aham ādiś ca madhyaṁ ca
bhūtānām anta eva ca
Synonyms
aham
—
I
;
ātmā
—
the soul
;
guḍākeśa
—
O Arjuna
;
sarva-bhūta
—
of all living entities
;
āśaya-sthitaḥ
—
situated within the heart
;
aham
—
I am
;
ādiḥ
—
the origin
;
ca
—
also
;
madhyam
—
middle
;
ca
—
also
;
bhūtānām
—
of all living entities
;
antaḥ
—
end
;
eva
—
certainly
;
ca
—
and.
Translation
I am the Supersoul, O Arjuna, seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
20. O conqueror of sleep, I am the soul of prakṛti, situated as the spirit within each universe, and within each living entity. I alone am the creation, maintenance and destruction of all creatures.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
20. O conqueror of sleep, I am situated as the soul of prakṛti, as the soul of the aggregate jīvas within each universe, and as the soul within each living entity. I alone am the cause of creation, maintenance and destruction of all elements.
Purport
In this verse Arjuna is addressed as Guḍākeśa, which means “one who has conquered the darkness of sleep.” For those who are sleeping in the darkness of ignorance, it is not possible to understand how the Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests Himself in various ways in the material and spiritual worlds. Thus this address by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna is significant. Because Arjuna is above such darkness, the Personality of Godhead agrees to describe His various opulences.
Kṛṣṇa first informs Arjuna that He is the soul of the entire cosmic manifestation by dint of His primary expansion. Before the material creation, the Supreme Lord, by His plenary expansion, accepts the puruṣa incarnation, and from Him everything begins. Therefore He is ātmā, the soul of the mahat-tattva, the universal elements. The total material energy is not the cause of the creation; actually the Mahā-viṣṇu enters into the mahat-tattva, the total material energy. He is the soul. When Mahā-viṣṇu enters into the manifested universes, He again manifests Himself as the Supersoul in each and every entity. We have experience that the personal body of the living entity exists due to the presence of the spiritual spark. Without the existence of the spiritual spark, the body cannot develop. Similarly, the material manifestation cannot develop unless the Supreme Soul, Kṛṣṇa, enters. As stated in the Subāla Upaniṣad, prakṛty-ādi-sarva-bhūtāntar-yāmī sarva-śeṣī ca nārāyaṇaḥ: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is existing as the Supersoul in all manifested universes.”
The three puruṣa-avatāras are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. They are also described in the Nārada Paṣcarātra, one of the Sātvata-tantras. Viṣṇos tu trīṇi rūpāṇi puruṣākhyāny atho viduḥ: the Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests three features – as Kāraṇodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu, Garbhodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu – in this material manifestation. The Mahā-viṣṇu, or Kāraṇodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu, is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.47) . Yaḥ kāraṇārṇava-jale bhajati sma yoga-nidrām: the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, the cause of all causes, lies down in the cosmic ocean as Mahā-viṣṇu. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the beginning of this universe, the maintainer of the universal manifestations, and the end of all energy.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
First you should think of Me alone as the cause of all these vibhūtis by using just one of My portions. I am ātmā, the soul within prakṛti; I am the creator of the mahat-tattva, the puruṣa, the Paramātmā (Karaṇodakaśāyī). O one who conquers sleep (Guḍākeśa), you are qualified for meditation since you do not sleep. I am situated in the aggregate of all beings (vairājas), as the antaryāmī of the virāṭ (Garbhodakaśāyī). I am also situated within the hearts of all living entities, as the antaryāmī of the individuals (Kṣīrodakaśāyī). (Two meanings are given to the phrase sarva-bhutāśaya-sthitaḥ). I am the cause of the creation (adiḥ), the maintenance (madhyam) and the destruction of all entities.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Meditate upon Me as the cause of all vibhūtis in the form of My three Viṣṇu expansions for creation, maintenance and destruction of the mahattattva and other elements.
O conquerer of sleep (guḍakeśa)! You are qualified to contemplate this, as you have conquered ignorance. You should think of Me as paramātmā of three forms (ātmā) for creation, maintenance and destruction, full of vibhūtis, knowledge and bliss, situated within the abode consisting of all elements (sarva bhūtāśaya sthitaḥ).
Sarva bhūta refers to the basic prakṛti from pradhāna down to the earth element. I am situated within the abode of prakṛti made of all those elements, in the form of Viṣṇu in the karaṇa ocean. I am the antaryāmī within this prakṛti.
I am also situated as the antaryāmī of the samāṣṭi virāḍ (aggregate person), in the form of Garbhodaśaya Viṣṇu, within the abode identifying itself as the aggregate (called vairāja) of all jīvas (sarva bhūta) in the universe .
I am also situated as the antaryāmī of vyasṭi virāḍ (individual person), in the form of Kṣirodaśaya Viṣṇu, within all the individual jīvas (sarva bhūta). [Note: The phrase sarva bhūta has here been interpreted in three ways to indicate simulatneously the functions of the three puruṣa avatāras in one statement.] You should meditate on these three forms, understanding that they are My vibhūtis.
Subāla Upaniṣad says:
prakṛty-ādi-sarva-bhūtāntaryāmī sarva-śeṣī ca nārāyaṇaḥ
Nārāyaṇa is the antaryāmī of prakṛti and other elements, and all living entities. He is the chief among all entities.
Sātvata Tantra says:
viṣṇos tu trīṇi rūpāṇi puruṣākhyāny atho viduḥ
ekaṁ tu mahataḥ sraṣṭṛ dvitīyaṁ tantu-saṁsthitam
tṛtīyaṁ sarva-bhūtasthaṁ tāni jṣātvā vimucyate
They know the three forms of Viṣṇu as puruṣas. The first is the creator of the mahat tattva. The second is situated in the universe. The third is situated in all jīvas. Knowing these, one becomes liberated.
That these puruṣas are the avatāras of the son of Vasudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is shown in three verse of Brahma Saṁhitā starting with the following:
yaḥ kāraṇārṇava-jale bhajati sma yoga-
nidrām ananta-jagad-aṇḍa-saroma-kūpaḥ
ādhāra-śaktim avalambya parāṁ sva-mūrtiṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
Govinda, the ultimate and Supreme Personality of Godhead [Lord Kṛṣṇa], lies sleeping unlimitedly on the Causal Ocean in order to create unlimited numbers of universes during that sleep. He lies on the water by His own internal potency, and I worship that original Supreme Godhead. Brahmā Saṁhitā 5.47
I am the cause of the creation (adiḥ) continuation (madhyam), and destruction (antaḥ) of all these beings. You should think of Me alone as the form of these three puruṣas as mentioned.
Surrender Unto Me
'Beings' refers to 'sentient beings'.