A devotional verse · devotional in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“The supreme one is known fully only by the supreme one.”
O Supreme Person, you alone know yourself by yourself, O source of all beings, lord of all beings, divine of the divine, ruler of the world.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallyby oneself alone · by the self · the self · you know · you · O Supreme Person · O source of beings · O lord of beings · O divine of the divine · O ruler of the world
Arjuna praises Krishna as the Supreme Person who alone fully knows his own nature and rules over all beings.
Arjuna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Vibhuti Yoga" (The Yoga of Divine Glories).
Verse 15 sits in Chapter 10 of the Bhagavad Gita — Vibhuti Yoga, "The Yoga of Divine Glories". The chapter has 42 verses in total.
You sit across from someone whose motives you cannot read, yet they seem to hold the whole room together. This verse names that rare recognition: some presence is deeper than your questions.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts reverence from asking for proof to recognising a reality that is self-luminous and complete.
What this verse means
Arjuna praises Krishna as the Supreme Person who alone fully knows his own nature and rules over all beings.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield, Arjuna has begun to see Krishna not as a charioteer alone, but as the Supreme Person behind all existence. He bows in awe and says that Krishna alone fully knows his own nature, while all beings depend on him.
Why this verse still matters
You sit across from someone whose motives you cannot read, yet they seem to hold the whole room together. This verse names that rare recognition: some presence is deeper than your questions.
“There is relief in meeting a presence greater than explanation, one that already knows itself and the world.”
Explore related themes: purushottama (14 verses), bhagavan (11 verses)