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← Chapter 10: The Yoga of Divine Manifestations

Verse 10.32

Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit

सर्गाणामादिरन्तश्च मध्यं चैवाहमर्जुन | अध्यात्मविद्या विद्यानां वादः प्रवदतामहम् ||३२||

Transliteration (IAST)

sarganam adir antas ca madhyam caivaham arjuna | adhyatma-vidya vidyanam vadah pravadatam aham ||32||

Word-by-Word Meanings

sarganam-of creations
adih-the beginning
antah-the end
madhyam-the middle
adhyatma-vidya-the science of the Self
vidyanam-of sciences
vadah-the logical conclusion
pravadatam-of debaters

Translation

Of creations I am the beginning, the middle, and the end, O Arjuna. Among sciences I am the science of the Self (adhyatma-vidya); and among debaters I am the logical conclusion (vada).

Commentary

Krishna encompasses all temporal phases of creation. Adhyatma-vidya (Self-knowledge) is supreme among sciences because it alone leads to liberation. Vada represents honest dialectic aimed at truth, as opposed to jalpa (sophistry) or vitanda (destructive argument). Shankaracharya emphasizes that Self-knowledge is the highest because it destroys the root of all suffering.

Themes

jnanabhaktiatman