Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 10, Verse 28
आयुधानामहं वज्रं धेनूनामस्मि कामधुक्।
प्रजनश्चास्मि कन्दर्पः सर्पाणामस्मि वासुकिः।।
प्रजनश्चास्मि कन्दर्पः सर्पाणामस्मि वासुकिः।।
āyudhānām ahaṁ vajraṁ dhenūnām asmi kāmadhuk
prajanaś cāsmi kandarpaḥ sarpāṇām asmi vāsukiḥ
also searched as "ayudhanam aham vajram dhenunam asmi kamadhuk"
Translation
Of weapons, I am the Vajra (thunderbolt); of cows, I am Kamadhuk; I am Kandarpa, the cause of progeny; of serpents, I am Vasuki.
Vāṇi's rendering
Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; of cows, the wish-granting Kamadhenu; of begetting, love itself; of serpents, Vasuki.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आयुधानाम्āyudhānām | of weapons |
| अहम्aham | I |
| वज्रम्vajram | the thunderbolt, Indra's weapon |
| धेनूनाम्dhenūnām | of cows |
| अस्मिasmi | am |
| कामधुक्kāmadhuk | Kāmadhenu, the cow that milks out whatever is wished for |
| प्रजनःprajanaḥ | the begetter, the cause of offspring (appears as prajanaś before the following ca) |
| चca | and |
| अस्मिasmi | am (joined in the verse as cāsmi) |
| कन्दर्पःkandarpaḥ | Kandarpa, love, the god of desire |
| सर्पाणाम्sarpāṇām | of serpents |
| अस्मिasmi | am |
| वासुकिःvāsukiḥ | Vāsuki, king of serpents |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Verse 28 mean?
Krishna names himself in four unlike things: the thunderbolt among weapons, Kāmadhenu among cows, love among the forces that beget, Vāsuki among serpents. Striking power, endless giving, desire, venom. He is telling Arjuna that no category of force stands outside him — not even the ones we would rather not pray to.
What does ayudhanam aham vajram dhenunam asmi kamadhuk mean?
Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; of cows, the wish-granting Kāmadhenu. The two sit side by side on purpose. The vajra takes, the dhenu gives, and Krishna says he is the height of each. Where you meet power and where you meet abundance, you are meeting the same presence.
Why does Krishna call himself Kandarpa, the god of desire?
Because desire is how life continues. Kandarpa is not indulgence here; he is the begetting force, the reason anything new arrives at all. Krishna claims it plainly. Elsewhere he warns you against being ruled by wanting — but the wanting itself is his. What you do with it remains yours.
What is the meaning of Vasuki in this verse?
Vāsuki is the foremost of serpents, the one wound round the mountain when the ocean was churned. Krishna does not choose a gentle creature to stand for himself. He chooses the greatest among the feared. The eminence is what he claims, wherever it appears, however uncomfortable its form.
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Commentary
Krishna has been naming the best, and here the list turns strange. A weapon. A cow. Desire. A snake. He does not sort them into the holy and the unholy. The thunderbolt that splits and the cow that gives without end are the same one speaking; so is kandarpa, the pull that makes bodies seek bodies and children arrive. Arjuna is holding a weapon while he hears this. He wanted to know which parts of the world were clean enough to belong to Krishna. The answer is that his own wanting is one of them. Whatever you keep out of your prayer is on this list.