Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 7, Verse 8
रसोऽहमप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशिसूर्ययोः।
प्रणवः सर्ववेदेषु शब्दः खे पौरुषं नृषु।।
प्रणवः सर्ववेदेषु शब्दः खे पौरुषं नृषु।।
raso ’ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu
also searched as "raso aham apsu kaunteya prabhasmi shashi suryayoh"
Translation
I am the taste in the waters, O Arjuna! I am the light in the sun and the moon; the sacred syllable Om in all the Vedas; sound in the ether; and manhood in men, I am.
Vāṇi's rendering
I am taste in water, light in sun and moon, Om in the scriptures, sound in space, strength in men.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| रसःrasaḥ | taste, the flavour in a thing (sandhi: rasaḥ + aham → raso 'ham) |
| अहम्aham | I |
| अप्सुapsu | in the waters |
| कौन्तेयkaunteya | O son of Kunti — Arjuna |
| प्रभाprabhā | shining, radiance (sandhi: prabhā + asmi → prabhāsmi) |
| अस्मिasmi | I am |
| शशि-सूर्ययोःśaśi-sūryayoḥ | in the moon and the sun |
| प्रणवःpraṇavaḥ | the syllable Om |
| सर्व-वेदेषुsarva-vedeṣu | in all the Vedas |
| शब्दःśabdaḥ | sound |
| खेkhe | in space, in the open sky |
| पौरुषम्pauruṣam | strength, the manly force |
| नृषुnṛṣu | in men, in human beings |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 8 mean?
Krishna names himself not as things but as the quality inside things — taste in water, shining in sun and moon, Om in the Vedas, sound in space, strength in men. Each is inseparable from what holds it. He is telling Arjuna that the search for him need not leave the world; it needs only to go deeper into it.
What does raso aham apsu kaunteya mean?
"I am taste in water, O son of Kunti." Rasa is what water is to the tongue — you cannot remove it and still have water. Krishna begins with the most ordinary sensation available to a human being, and says: that is me. The first lesson is that nothing is too small.
Why does Krishna say he is strength in men?
Pauruṣam is the force by which a person acts at all — the capacity to stand up, lift, endure. Krishna claims it so that your own strength stops feeling like private property. When you act well, something older than you is acting. That takes the boast out of ability, and the loneliness out of effort.
How do I use this verse in daily life?
Stop looking for Krishna above the world and start noticing him in it. The cold of water, the light on a wall, the sound in an empty room, the strength that carried you through today. Each is a doorway already open. Attention is the only practice this verse asks of you.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Not the water — the taste of it. Krishna does not claim the sun; he claims its shining. Not the Vedas, but the syllable they open with. He is naming himself as the quality by which each thing is itself, the thing you cannot pull out and hold separately. Taste cannot be lifted off water. Light cannot be peeled from the moon. Arjuna is being taught where to look — not past the world, but into what makes it the world. So drink water today and notice: that taste is not an extra. It is the one thing you have been searching for, arriving on your tongue.