Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 7, Verse 4
भूमिरापोऽनलो वायुः खं मनो बुद्धिरेव च।
अहङ्कार इतीयं मे भिन्ना प्रकृतिरष्टधा।।
अहङ्कार इतीयं मे भिन्ना प्रकृतिरष्टधा।।
bhūmir-āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahankāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
also searched as "bhumir apo analo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca"
Translation
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, Manas, Buddhi, and the ego-sense—thus My Prakriti is divided into eight parts.
Vāṇi's rendering
Earth, water, fire, air, space; mind, understanding, and the sense of I — this is my nature, eightfold.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भूमिःbhūmiḥ | earth (sandhi: bhūmir before the vowel) |
| आपःāpaḥ | water (sandhi: āpo before a-) |
| अनलःanalaḥ | fire (its initial a- elided as ’nalo) |
| वायुःvāyuḥ | air, wind |
| खम्kham | space, the open |
| मनःmanaḥ | mind — the feeling, wanting instrument |
| बुद्धिःbuddhiḥ | understanding, the weighing and deciding faculty |
| एवeva | indeed, as well |
| चca | and |
| अहङ्कारःahaṅkāraḥ | the sense of I, the 'I-am-this' maker |
| इतिiti | thus, so ends the list (joined as itīyam) |
| इयम्iyam | this |
| मेme | my, belonging to me |
| भिन्नाbhinnā | divided, separated out |
| प्रकृतिःprakṛtiḥ | nature, the whole outward stuff of things |
| अष्टधाaṣṭadhā | in eight ways, eightfold |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 4 mean?
Krishna names the eight strands of his prakṛti: earth, water, fire, air, space, then mind, understanding, and ahaṅkāra, the sense of I. The list moves from the coarsest to the most intimate without changing category. Mind and self-image are nature too — his, arranged, not a second owner standing apart from him.
What does bhumir apo analo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca teach?
It teaches that the inner equipment is not exempt. We readily grant that the body is made of elements; this line puts thought, judgement and the feeling of being a self in the same sentence. All eight are Krishna's nature, divided for the making of a world.
Why is the sense of I listed with earth and water?
Because ahaṅkāra is something that happens, not someone it happens to. It arises, thickens, argues, tires. Krishna places it among the elements to end a quiet confusion: you are not the one who says I, you are what that saying occurs within.
Is this eightfold nature separate from Krishna?
No. He says me — this is my nature. The eight are not rivals or leftovers; they are his own arrangement, held together by him. The verse divides in order to show what is being held. What comes next, in 7.5, names the higher nature that lives by it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Count the list again. Earth, water, fire, air, space — no surprise. Then mind. Then understanding. Then the sense of I. Krishna sets them in one row, as though the thought of being someone were made of the same stuff as clay. It is. This is the nature he calls his, the machinery, and everything you call yourself sits inside it — your opinions, your quickness, your name. The one who owns the list is not on it. Notice, next time you say I, how much of that is weather: chemistry, habit, borrowed conviction. Krishna is not disowning any of it. He is telling you whose it is.