10.21

Sanskrit

आदित्यानामहं विष्णुर्ज्योतिषां रविरंशुमान् । मरीचिर्मरुतामस्मि नक्षत्राणामहं शशी ॥ २१ ॥

ādityānām ahaṃ viṣṇur jyotiṣāṃ ravir aṃśumān marīcir marutām asmi nakṣatrāṇām ahaṃ śaśī

Translation

Of the Adityas I am Vishnu; of radiances the glorious sun; I am Marîchi of the Maruts; of the asterisms the Moon am I.

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

The first category examples — among the Adityas, Vishnu; among lights, the sun; among the Maruts, Marichi; among stars, the moon. This establishes the pattern the chapter follows almost mechanically through verse 39: a category, then its foremost member, claimed as Krishna’s self-manifestation.