Verse 10.15

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 10.15:

स्वयम् एवात्मनात्मानं वेत्थ त्वं पुरुषोत्तम ।
भूत-भावन भूतेश देव-देव जगत्-पते ॥ १५ ॥

svayam evātmanātmānaṃ vettha tvaṃ puruṣottama |
bhūta-bhāvana bhūteśa deva-deva jagat-pate || 15 ||

svayam–Yourself; eva–only; ātmanā–by Yourself; ātmānam–Yourself; vettha–know; tvam–You; puruṣa-uttama–O Supreme Person; bhūta-bhāvana–the father of all living beings; bhūta-īśa–Lord of all created beings;deva-deva–God of gods; jagat-pate–Master of the cosmic manifestation.

O Puruṣottama, Supreme Person! O Bhūta-bhāvana, creator of beings! O Bhūteśa, father of all created beings! O Deva-deva, God of gods! O Jagat-pati, Master of the universe! You alone know Yourself by Your own potency.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

“Thus You alone know Yourself. The word eva establishes that Your devotees know the tattva of Your being unborn yet taking birth. This is inconceivable. Yet even they cannot say how this is accomplished. Only by Your internal potency, the cit-śakti, do You know Yourself, not by any other means. Therefore, tvaṃ puruṣottama, You are the best of persons, superior even to the creator of the mahā-tattva, Mahā-Viṣṇu. You are not only the best, but You are bhūta-bhāvana, the controller of everyone, right up to the great Grandsire Brahmā. You are not only the Controller but also the Lord of the demigods. In other words, You sport with the demigods such as Brahmā and Śiva, who are like instruments in Your pastimes. Furthermore, You are Jagat-pati, the Master of the universe. Out of Your unlimited compassion, You are the Master of all jīvas like me, who are living in this material world.

“The four invocations in this verse are merely explanations of the word puruṣottama. For example, ‘O Bhūta-bhāvana, You are the father of all living beings.’ Sometimes, someone may be a father but does not control his offspring. But, O Bhūteśa, You are the controller of all living beings. Someone may be the controller of living entities but not be worshipable, but You, O Deva-deva, God of gods, are worshipable even for the demigods. Someone may possess all of these qualities and still fail to maintain other living entities, but, O Jagat-pati, You maintain the entire universe.”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

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

Desiring to hear in detail the opulences of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna speaks in support of His statements: “Only You know the glory of Your inconceivable reality, the acintya-tattva. Nobody, including demigods, Dānavas or humans, can know even a particle of Your glories by their independent endeavour. Only Your exclusive devotees can know something of it by Your mercy. Therefore, please be merciful to me.”

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Arjuna as saying, “O Bhūta-bhāvana! O Bhūteśa! O Deva-deva! O Jagat-pati! O Puruṣottama! Only You, by Your own cit-śakti, know about Your own personality and the tattva of Your birth. Demigods and humans can never understand by their own intelligence how Your eternal form, the same form of eternality, knowledge and bliss, becomes manifest within this material world, while at the same time remaining independent from the laws of this world. Only those upon whom You bestow Your mercy can understand this.”