Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 9, Verse 16
अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञः स्वधाऽहमहमौषधम्।
मंत्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम्।।
मंत्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम्।।
ahaṁ kratur ahaṁ yajñaḥ svadhāham aham auṣadham
mantro ’ham aham evājyam aham agnir ahaṁ hutam
also searched as "aham kratur aham yajnah svadhaham aham aushadham"
Translation
I am Kratu, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering to the manes, I am the herb, I am the Mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, I am the oblation.
Vāṇi's rendering
I am the rite, the sacrifice, the ancestral offering, the healing herb; the mantra, the ghee, the fire, the pouring.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अहम्ahaṁ | I |
| क्रतुःkratur | the Vedic rite, the ordained ceremony |
| अहम्ahaṁ | I |
| यज्ञःyajñaḥ | the sacrifice, worship offered |
| स्वधाsvadhā | the offering made to the ancestors |
| अहम्aham | I (joined to svadhā by sandhi) |
| अहम्aham | I |
| औषधम्auṣadham | the herb, the healing plant, food that grows |
| मन्त्रःmantro | the sacred utterance spoken over the offering |
| अहम्’ham | I (elided after mantro) |
| अहम्aham | I |
| एवeva | indeed, none other |
| आज्यम्ājyam | the clarified butter poured into the flame (joined to eva by sandhi) |
| अहम्aham | I |
| अग्निःagnir | the fire |
| अहम्ahaṁ | I |
| हुतम्hutam | the act of pouring, the oblation offered |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 Verse 16 mean?
Krishna names himself as every part of an offering — the rite, the sacrifice, the ancestral portion, the herb, the mantra, the ghee, the fire, the pouring. Not the recipient only, but the whole apparatus. Worship turns out to have one participant wearing many roles, and the worshipper is inside that arrangement, not outside it.
What does aham kratur aham yajnah mean in the Gita?
Kratu is the ordained ceremony, yajña the sacrifice itself. Krishna says he is both — the form and the act. The Sanskrit repeats aham eight times in two lines, a drumbeat that leaves no room for a second owner anywhere in the ritual. Every hand in it is already his.
Why does Krishna say he is the fire and the offering both?
Because a division into giver, gift, and receiver is a convenience of speech, not a fact. If Krishna is the ghee and the flame and the pouring, then nothing crosses from you to him — something within him simply moves. Your part is to do it well, not to claim it.
How do I apply Bhagavad Gita 9.16 to daily life?
Take any act of giving — a meal cooked, money sent, patience held with a difficult person. You did not make the food, the money, or the patience. They arrived. Do the giving carefully and completely, then let go of the accounting. The credit was never a column you were keeping.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Count what a ritual needs. Someone to perform it, words to say, fire to burn, ghee to pour, and a receiver at the other end. Krishna takes every position on the list. Nothing is left over to be the offerer's own contribution. Arjuna is being shown that worship is not a transaction between two parties; there is one, arranged in many shapes. This is why the Gītā keeps saying the fruit is not yours — you did not supply the ingredients. When you next give something, time, money, attention, care, notice that the giving was already his before you thought of it.