Bg. 7.8 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

रसोऽहमप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशिसूर्ययो: । प्रणव: सर्ववेदेषु शब्द: खे पौरुषं नृषु ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

raso ’ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu

Synonyms

rasaḥ — taste ; aham — I ; apsu — in water ; kaunteya — O son of Kuntī ; prabhā — the light ; asmi — I am ; śaśi-sūryayoḥ — of the moon and the sun ; praṇavaḥ — the three letters a-u-m ; sarva — in all ; vedeṣu — the Vedas ; śabdaḥ — sound vibration ; khe — in the ether ; pauruṣam — ability ; nṛṣu — in men.

Translation

O son of Kuntī, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable oṁ in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

8. I am the taste of water, and the light of the sun and moon. I am praṇava in the Vedas, sound in the ether and successful efforts of men.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

8. I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and moon. I am praṇava in the Vedas, sound in the ether and successful efforts of men.

Purport

This verse explains how the Lord is all-pervasive by His diverse material and spiritual energies. The Supreme Lord can be preliminarily perceived by His different energies, and in this way He is realized impersonally. As the demigod in the sun is a person and is perceived by his all-pervading energy, the sunshine, so the Lord, although in His eternal abode, is perceived by His all-pervading diffusive energies. The taste of water is the active principle of water. No one likes to drink sea water, because the pure taste of water is mixed with salt. Attraction for water depends on the purity of the taste, and this pure taste is one of the energies of the Lord. The impersonalist perceives the presence of the Lord in water by its taste, and the personalist also glorifies the Lord for His kindly supplying tasty water to quench man’s thirst. That is the way of perceiving the Supreme. Practically speaking, there is no conflict between personalism and impersonalism. One who knows God knows that the impersonal conception and personal conception are simultaneously present in everything and that there is no contradiction. Therefore Lord Caitanya established His sublime doctrine: acintya bheda - and abheda-tattva – simultaneous oneness and difference. The light of the sun and the moon is also originally emanating from the brahma-jyotir, which is the impersonal effulgence of the Lord. And praṇava, or the oṁ-kāra transcendental sound in the beginning of every Vedic hymn, addresses the Supreme Lord. Because the impersonalists are very much afraid of addressing the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa by His innumerable names, they prefer to vibrate the transcendental sound oṁ-kāra. But they do not realize that oṁ-kāra is the sound representation of Kṛṣṇa. The jurisdiction of Kṛṣṇa consciousness extends everywhere, and one who knows Kṛṣṇa consciousness is blessed. Those who do not know Kṛṣṇa are in illusion, and so knowledge of Kṛṣṇa is liberation, and ignorance of Him is bondage.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Just as I have entered into the universe, My effect, in the form as Paramātmā, also I exist in the form of the cause of those effects (as sound in ether), or in the form of the essence of those things (as in success in man). This is expressed in four verses. The water’s taste, which is its cause, is a manifestation of My power (vibhūti). Likewise one can find a similar meaning in the items following. I am light itself which gives light to the sun and moon. I am oṁkāra, the source of the Vedas. I am sound in the ether, as sound is the cause of the ether. [Note: Sound gives rise to ether, touch gives rise to air, form gives rise to fire, taste gives rise to water, and smell gives rise to earth.] I am the distinguishing efforts (pauruṣam) of men, since effort is the essence of humans.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

Kṛṣṇa illustrates this truth (that he is the maintainer of the universe) in five verses. I am the taste in water. This means that I exist in the elements since I maintain them through the sense objects (taste for water), which are My vibhūtis. Without the sense object, the element cannot exist. [Note: The elements ether, air, fire, water and earth arise from their respective sense objects sound, touch, form, taste and smell.] I am the light in the moon and sun. Maintaining them through My vibhūti of light, in this way I am in them. In the same way, the other examples should be seen. I am praṇava in the all the Vedas, since praṇava is the root which finally manifests as the fourth stage of sound, vaikharī, full sentences heard as the Vedas. I am the sense object known as sound in the ether. I am the efforts which bring fruits to men, because only by those efforts do men continue to exist.

Surrender Unto Me

We see water, we drink water ‑ and that taste is Krsna. Krsna has already explained that He is water but what we most appreciate about water is its taste. And that taste that quenches our thirst, is Krsna. He is that active ingredient, He is the essence. The light of the sun. The sun is so powerful, it gives off heat and light. And that light is Krsna. The light of the sun and the moon ‑ one is heating and the other is cooling. Both come from Krsna. The syllable OM in the Vedic mantras ‑ the very essence in the Vedic mantras ‑ this is Krsna. The sound of the ether. Ether is another one of Krsna's energies. And sound or the essential element of ether ‑ is Krsna. What to speak of the ability in man. We are very proud of our ability, we can do so many things, but that ability is given by Krsna and in one second it can be taken by Krsna.