Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 7, Verse 10
बीजं मां सर्वभूतानां विद्धि पार्थ सनातनम्।
बुद्धिर्बुद्धिमतामस्मि तेजस्तेजस्विनामहम्।।
बुद्धिर्बुद्धिमतामस्मि तेजस्तेजस्विनामहम्।।
bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ viddhi pārtha sanātanam
buddhir buddhimatām asmi tejas tejasvinām aham
also searched as "bijam mam sarva-bhutanam viddhi partha sanatanam"
Translation
Know Me, O Arjuna, to be the primeval seed of all beings. I am the intelligence of the discerning and the brilliance of the brilliant.
Vāṇi's rendering
Know me as the ancient seed of all that lives — the intelligence of the intelligent, the splendour of the splendid.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| बीजम्bījaṁ | the seed, the source from which a thing arises |
| माम्māṁ | me |
| सर्व-भूतानाम्sarva-bhūtānāṁ | of all beings, of everything that lives |
| विद्धिviddhi | know |
| पार्थpārtha | O Arjuna, son of Pṛthā |
| सनातनम्sanātanam | ancient, beginningless, never not there |
| बुद्धिःbuddhiḥ | intelligence, the power to discern (buddhir before the next word) |
| बुद्धिमताम्buddhimatām | of those who possess intelligence |
| अस्मिasmi | I am |
| तेजःtejas | splendour, brilliance, burning presence |
| तेजस्विनाम्tejasvinām | of the splendid, of those who shine |
| अहम्aham | I |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 10 mean?
Krishna names himself the ancient seed of everything that lives, and then the intelligence inside intelligent people and the splendour inside splendid ones. He is not describing a resemblance. He is describing origin — that the sharpest thing in you was already his before it was yours.
What does bijam mam sarva-bhutanam viddhi partha sanatanam teach?
It teaches where you begin. A seed holds the whole tree without looking like it, and Krishna calls himself that seed for all beings — sanātanam, beginningless. Nothing alive stands outside this. You did not arrive here on your own strength, and you are not holding yourself up now.
If Krishna is the intelligence of the intelligent, is my own ability meaningless?
The opposite. Nothing is taken from you; only the ownership is corrected. A gift you must defend makes you tense and small. A gift you receive can be spent freely. Arjuna's skill with the bow does not vanish here — it stops being a thing he must protect.
How is this verse different from the ones just before it?
Earlier Krishna points to taste in water, light in fire, fragrance in earth — presence within things. Here he goes beneath them to the seed itself, and then up into human excellence. From the ground of all being to the brilliance of one person, in a single breath.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Not the tree — the seed. Krishna does not say he resembles what lives; he says he is what it came from, and the word is sanātanam, without beginning. Then something sharper: the intelligence of the intelligent. Whatever is quick in your thinking is not your possession. Arjuna is a man proud of his skill, and Krishna is quietly telling him where skill comes from. This is not a demotion. The splendid do not become dull; they become unanxious. Your gift stops needing defence the moment you stop calling it yours. Use it fully. Just stop guarding it.