Vibhūti (विभूति)
Vibhūti names Krishna’s divine glories — the specific instances in which he shows up as the foremost member of an ordinary category, rather than as something set apart from the world. The word itself first appears in BG 10.7, naming what the chapter had already been demonstrating without a term for it since verse 1. The catalogue that actually gives the word its content begins at BG 10.21, where the pattern is set — name a category, then its single best example, claimed as Krishna’s own manifestation — and repeated through verse 39: Vishnu among the Adityas, the Ganges among rivers, the Himalaya among mountains, the syllable Om among speech. The list takes this concrete, itemized shape because of how Arjuna frames the request: he doesn’t ask what Krishna is, he asks how to meditate on him (BG 10.17) — and a meditation practice needs objects to fix on, not a definition.
Illustrative, not exhaustive
The chapter undercuts its own catalogue twice before it’s finished. Verse 19 opens Krishna’s answer with a disclaimer stated before a single example is given — “there is no end to details of Me” (BG 10.19) — and verse 40 repeats the point flatly once the list has run its course: everything named was illustrative, not an inventory (BG 10.40). Verse 41 then converts the whole list into a standing rule Arjuna can apply without further examples from Krishna: whatever is glorious, beautiful, or mighty, wherever encountered, already qualifies as a fragment of Krishna’s splendor (BG 10.41). The chapter’s final move is to deflate the catalogue entirely — “what use is the knowledge of all these details” — and replace forty-some named instances with one compressed claim: a single fragment of Krishna, pervading, sustains the whole universe (BG 10.42). That image is deliberately unsatisfying. Krishna has just spent thirty verses cataloguing pieces and closes by saying even the pieces are a fragment of a fragment — which is exactly what leaves Arjuna unwilling to stop at hearing about vibhūti and drives his request in Chapter 11 to see the whole form directly, rather than infer it from instances.
Related
- Viśvarūpa (विश्वरूप) — the escalation vibhūti’s own closing verse provokes: once Arjuna hears that even the full catalogue is only “one fragment,” a list of parts can no longer satisfy him, and he asks to see the undivided whole instead
- Bhakti (भक्ति) — the response the chapter pairs with recognizing these manifestations; verses 8-9 have “the wise” who grasp that everything issues from Krishna respond not by extending the list further but by adoring him “in rapt emotion”
Verses that reference this
I the sapidity in waters, O son of Kuntî, I the radiance in moon and sun; the Word of Power in all the Vedas, sound in ether, and virility in men;
The pure fragrance of earths and the brilliance in fire am I; the life in all beings am I, and the austerity in ascetics.
Know Me, O Pârtha! as the eternal seed of all beings. I am the Reason of the Reason-endowed, the splendour of splendid things am I.
Reason, wisdom, non-illusion, forgiveness, truth, self-restraint, calmness, pleasure, pain, existence, non-existence, fear, and also courage
Harmlessness, equanimity, content, austerity, almsgiving, fame and obloquy are the various characteristics of beings issuing from Me.
The seven great Rishis, the ancient Four, and also the Manus, were born of My nature, and mind; of them this race was generated.
He who knows in essence that sovereignty and yoga of Mine, he is harmonised by unfaltering yoga; there is no doubt thereof.
Deign to tell without reserve of Thine own divine glories, by which glories Thou remainest, pervading these worlds.
How may I know thee, O Yogi, by constant meditation? In what, in what aspects art Thou to be thought of by me, O blessed Lord?
In detail tell me again of Thy yoga and glory, O Janardana; for me there is never satiety in hearing thy life-giving words.
Blessed be thou! I will declare to thee My divine glory by its chief characteristics, O best of the Kurus; there is no end to details of Me.
I, O Gudakesha, am the Self, seated in the heart of all beings; I am the beginning, the middle, and also the end of all beings.
Of the Adityas I am Vishnu; of radiances the glorious sun; I am Marîchi of the Maruts; of the asterisms the Moon am I.
Of the Vedas I am the Sâma-Veda; I am Vâsava of the Shining Ones; and of the senses I am the mind; I am of living beings the intelligence.
And of the Rudras Shañkara am I; Vittesha of the Yakshas and Râkshasas; and of the Vasus I am Pâvaka; Meru of high mountains am I.
And know Me, O Pârtha, of household priests the chief, Brihaspati: of generals I am Skanda; of lakes I am the ocean.
Of the great Rishis Bhṛigu; of speech I am the one syllable; of sacrifices I am the sacrifice of silent repetitions; of immovable things the Himâlaya.
Asvattha of all tree; and of divine Rishis Nârada; of Gandharvas Chitraratha; of the perfected the Muni Kapila.
Uchchaishravas of horses know me, nectar-born; Airâvata of lordly elephants, and of men the Monarch.
Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; of cows I am Kâmadhuk; I am Kandarpa of the progenitors; of serpents Vâsuki am I.
And I am Ananta of Nâgas, Varuna of sea-dwellers I; and of ancestors Aryaman; Yama of governors am I.
And I am Prahlâda of Daityas; of calculators Time am I; and of wild beasts I the imperial beast; and Vainateya of birds.
Of purifiers I am the wind; Rama of warriors I; and I am Makara of fishes; of streams the Gangâ am I.
Of creations the beginning and the ending, and also the middle am I, O Arjuna. Of sciences the science concerning the Self; the speech of orators I.
Of letters the letter A I am, and the duality of a compound; I also everlasting Time; I the Supporter, whose face turns everywhere.
And all-devouring Death am I, and the origin of all to come; and of feminine qualities, fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, constancy, forgiveness.
Of hymns also Brihatsâman; Gâyatrî of metres am I; of months I am Mârgasîrsha; of seasons the flowery.
I am the gambling of the cheat, and the splendour of splendid things I; I am victory, I am determination, and the truth of the truthful I.
Of the Vṛishnis Vâsudeva am I; of the Pândavas Dhananjaya; of the Sages also I am Vyâsa; of poets Ushanâ the Bard.
Of rulers I am the sceptre; of those that seek victory I am statesmanship; and of secrets I am also silence; the knowledge of knowers am I.
And whatsoever is the seed of all beings, that am I, O Arjuna; nor is there aught, moving or unmoving, that may exist bereft of Me.
There is no end of My divine powers, O Parantapa. What has been declared is illustrative of My infinite glory.
Whatsoever is glorious, good, beautiful, and mighty, understand thou that to go forth from a fragment of My splendour.
But what is the knowledge of all these details to thee, O Arjuna? Having pervaded this whole universe with one fragment of Myself, I remain.
That splendour issuing from the sun that enlighteneth the whole world, that which is in the moon and in fire, that splendour know as from Me.
Permeating the soil, I support beings by my vital energy, and having become the delicious Soma I nourish all plants.
I, having become the Fire of Life, take possession of the bodies of breathing things, and united with the life-breaths, I digest the four kinds of food.