Verse 10.42
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
अथवा बहुनैतेन किं ज्ञातेन तवार्जुन | विष्टभ्याहमिदं कृत्स्नमेकांशेन स्थितो जगत् ||४२||
Transliteration (IAST)
athava bahunaitena kim jnatena tavarjuna | vistabhyaham idam krtsnam ekamsena sthito jagat ||42||
Word-by-Word Meanings
Translation
But what need is there, O Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? I support this entire universe with a single fragment of Myself, and I remain.
Commentary
This magnificent concluding verse renders all previous enumeration secondary. The entire cosmos - with all its vibhutis, glories, and manifestations - is sustained by merely one fraction (eka-amsa) of Krishna's infinite being. This is the ultimate statement of divine transcendence: God is infinitely greater than His creation. Shankaracharya calls this the essence of the chapter. Ramanuja explains that 'eka-amsa' indicates that even the totality of creation does not exhaust divine reality. Madhva emphasizes that this verse establishes the absolute supremacy and inexhaustibility of the Lord beyond all finite manifestation.