Verse 15.12

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 15.12:

यद् आदित्य-गतं तेजो जगद् भासयतेऽखिलम् ।
यच् चन्द्रमसि यच् चाग्नौ तत् तेजो विद्धि मामकम् ॥ १२ ॥

yad āditya-gataṃ tejo jagad bhāsayate'khilam |
yac candramasi yac cāgnau tat tejo viddhi māmakam || 12 ||

yat–which; āditya-gatam–from the sun; tejaḥ–the splendour; jagat–universe; bhāsayate–illuminates; akhilam–the entire; yat–which; candramasi–in the moon; yat–which; ca–and; agnau–in fire; tat–that; tejaḥ–splendour; viddhi–you must understand; māmakam–Mine.

Know the splendour of the sun, which illuminates the entire universe, as well as the splendour of the moon and fire, to be Mine.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

“It is I in the form of the sun, moon and so forth who delivers whatever the jīva needs in his bound state.” This is explained here, in this verse beginning with yad āditya-gatam, and also in the following two Gītā verses. “As the splendour of the morning sun rising from the Udaya mountain, I illuminate the universe so that the living entities can commence their execution of karma (prescribed duty), which fulfils their seen and unseen desires for sense enjoyment. The splendour of the moon and fire is also Mine, and I am also called Sūrya (the sun), Candra (the moon), etc. Being parts of My splendour, they have been counted as My opulences (vibhūtis).”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

An ignorant person, who is bereft of bhakti, mistakes the body for the self. He cannot understand that Parameśvara, the Supreme Controller, is the original cause behind the existence, or manifestation, of all objects, entities, feelings, elements, actions and qualities of this world. He thinks that the root cause of all existence is earth, water, fire, air, sky, moon, sun, electricity and so on. Here, Śrī Kṛṣṇa clearly says that all these manifest from Him alone. It is Bhagavān alone who bestows enjoyment and liberation upon the living entity. He creates visible and invisible varieties of enjoyment for the jīva by infusing the sun, moon and so forth with a partial aspect of His splendour.

By following vibhūti-yoga as explained here by Bhagavān Himself, a living entity practising bhakti-yoga can easily comprehend the above truth. But a jīva who is bewildered by māyā can never realize this truth. Completely controlled by the false ego, he endeavours in vain to establish his command over everything–water, air, sun, moon, wind and so forth–so he can exploit them for his own material enjoyment. He is best advised to give up these futile endeavours and follow the process of bhakti by surrendering to Bhagavān. Only by this simple and easy process can he attain eternal peace and happiness, otherwise not.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “You may say, ‘A living entity in this material world cannot deliberate on anything but matter, so how can he possibly deliberate on conscious Reality?’ But the splendour of My spiritual existence is also in this material world. By taking its help, one can gradually attain a pure, spiritual state and one’s material state is destroyed. The splendour of the sun, moon and fire, which illuminate the whole world, is indeed only Mine; it is no one else’s.”