Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 10, Verse 20
अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः।
अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च।।
अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च।।
aham ātmā guḍākeśa sarva-bhūtāśaya-sthitaḥ
aham ādiś ca madhyaṁ ca bhūtānām anta eva ca
also searched as "aham atma gudakesha sarva-bhutashaya-sthitah"
Translation
I am the Self, O Arjuna, dwelling in the hearts of all beings; I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.
Vāṇi's rendering
I am the self seated in the heart of every being — their beginning, their middle, and their end.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अहम्aham | I |
| आत्माātmā | am the self |
| गुडाकेशguḍākeśa | O Arjuna, conqueror of sleep |
| सर्वभूताशयस्थितःsarva-bhūtāśaya-sthitaḥ | seated in the innermost place — the heart — of all beings |
| अहम्aham | I |
| आदिःādiḥ | am the beginning (appears as ādiś before ca) |
| चca | and |
| मध्यम्madhyam | the middle |
| चca | and |
| भूतानाम्bhūtānām | of all beings |
| अन्तःantaḥ | the end (appears as anta before eva) |
| एवeva | indeed, verily |
| चca | and |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Verse 20 mean?
Krishna tells Arjuna that he is not merely the grandeur of the world but the self seated in the heart of every living being, and the beginning, middle and end of each of them. The vast catalogue of glories turns inward here. What was being admired at a distance is found already within.
What is the meaning of aham atma gudakesha sarva bhutashaya sthitah?
It means: I am the self, Arjuna, seated in the innermost place of all beings. Āśaya is the deep interior, the heart where things are stored. Krishna is saying he is not visiting from outside; he is stationed where you are most yourself, in every being alike.
Why does Krishna call Arjuna Gudakesha here?
Guḍākeśa means one who has mastered sleep. Krishna uses it exactly when he speaks of what is seated within — a teaching only the wakeful can receive. The name is a small nudge: stay alert now. What follows cannot be heard by someone half asleep to their own interior.
What does it mean that Krishna is the beginning, middle and end of all beings?
Not three separate moments he oversees, but the entire duration of a life held from within. Your origin, your present unfinished middle, your ending — none of it happens outside him. There is no stretch of your existence that has to be got through alone before he arrives.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has been listing his splendours — mountain, ocean, syllable, lion. Then the list stops. He turns to Arjuna by a name meaning the one who conquered sleep, and says: I am the self seated in the heart of every being. Not among the magnificent things. Under them. Beginning, middle, end is not three positions on a line; it is the whole span of a life, held. Whatever began in you, whatever is running now, whatever will finish — he is already there for all of it. You do not have to travel to reach him. Sit still and notice who is already seated.