Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 10, Verse 16
वक्तुमर्हस्यशेषेण दिव्या ह्यात्मविभूतयः।
याभिर्विभूतिभिर्लोकानिमांस्त्वं व्याप्य तिष्ठसि।।
याभिर्विभूतिभिर्लोकानिमांस्त्वं व्याप्य तिष्ठसि।।
vaktum arhasyaśeṣeṇa divyā hyātma-vibhūtayaḥ
yābhir vibhūtibhir lokān imāṁs tvaṁ vyāpya tiṣṭhasi
also searched as "vaktum arhasyasheshena divya hyatma vibhutayah"
Translation
You should tell Me without reserve Your divine manifestations where You abide, pervading all these worlds.
Vāṇi's rendering
Tell me, leaving nothing out, your divine glories — the powers by which you fill and hold these worlds.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| वक्तुम्vaktum | to speak, to tell |
| अर्हसिarhasi | you are worthy, you should (joined with the next word by sandhi) |
| अशेषेणaśeṣeṇa | without remainder, leaving nothing out |
| दिव्याःdivyāḥ | divine, shining |
| हिhi | indeed (joined with the next word by sandhi) |
| आत्म-विभूतयःātma-vibhūtayaḥ | your own glories, the powers that are yourself |
| याभिःyābhiḥ | by which |
| विभूतिभिःvibhūtibhiḥ | by the glories, by the outshinings |
| लोकान्lokān | the worlds |
| इमान्imān | these |
| त्वम्tvam | you |
| व्याप्यvyāpya | having pervaded, filling through |
| तिष्ठसिtiṣṭhasi | you stand, you abide, you hold |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Verse 16 mean?
Arjuna asks Krishna to name his divine glories completely — the vibhūtis by which he pervades and sustains every world. It is a request for a map. Having accepted that Krishna is the source of all, Arjuna now wants to know where in ordinary things that presence can actually be recognised.
What does vaktum arhasyasheshena divya hyatma vibhutayah mean?
Tell me, leaving nothing out, your divine glories. Aśeṣeṇa means without remainder — Arjuna wants no part withheld. He has just admitted that no one can fully know Krishna, yet he still asks for the whole. The asking itself is the devotion; the fullness is what Krishna answers with.
Why does Arjuna ask for a list of divine glories instead of liberation?
Because he has to live in this world, not leave it. Arjuna is not asking for escape; he is asking how to see rightly where he already stands. Krishna's vibhūtis turn the ordinary field of things into places where recognition becomes possible. That is a practical request, not a devotional flourish.
What is vibhuti in the Bhagavad Gita?
Vibhūti is an outshining — a place where Krishna's presence becomes visible through some excellence in a created thing. The lion among beasts, the Ganges among rivers. Not that Krishna is only there, but that there the veil is thin. You are meant to use these as doorways, not as an inventory.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna has just been told he cannot be told everything — and he asks anyway. Leaving nothing out, he says, knowing no list of glories could ever be finished. That is not greed. It is the appetite of one who has finally seen that Krishna is not elsewhere, and wants the world back item by item, as evidence. Notice what he asks for: not release, not victory, not instruction in duty. The powers by which you fill and hold these worlds. He wants to know where to look. You are allowed to ask for that much.