Bhagwad Gita (English) | Chapter 15 | Verse 13

Chapter 15, Verse 13

The Yoga of the Supreme Person

I enter into each planet, and by My energy they stay in orbit. I become the moon and thereby supply the juice of life to all vegetables.

Verse

गामाविश्य च भूतानि धारयाम्यहमोजसा।पुष्णामि चौषधीः सर्वाः सोमो भूत्वा रसात्मकः।।15.13।।

gām āviśhya cha bhūtāni dhārayāmy aham ojasā
puṣhṇāmi chauṣhadhīḥ sarvāḥ somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ

Meaning of each word

gām — earth;
āviśhya — permeating;
cha — and;
bhūtāni — living beings;
dhārayāmi — sustain;
aham — I;
ojasā — energy;
puṣhṇāmi — nourish;
cha — and;
auṣhadhīḥ — plants;
sarvāḥ — all;
somaḥ — the moon;
bhūtvā — becoming;
rasa-ātmakaḥ — supplying the juice of life

Interpretation

This verse says that everything in our universe, including planets and living things, is supported and maintained by a higher power, often referred to as the Supreme Lord. Think of this power as a big energy that keeps all planets hanging in their place in space, much like how a hand can hold a handful of dust without it dropping. If we throw that dust into the air, it will fall, but in the hand, it stays put. In the same way, it is the Lord's energy that keeps planets from drifting away and ensures they remain in their specific paths.

Imagine when you go to the beach and see a little boat floating on the water. That boat stays afloat because of a balance between water's surface tension and the boat's design. Similarly, the planets float in space because they have a balance created by this divine energy. If that energy weren’t there, the planets would scatter all over, just like dust in the wind.

Now, let’s talk about the moon. The verse mentions that the Lord becomes the moon and helps nourish vegetables. When you think of vegetables like tomatoes or spinach that we grow in our gardens, we often notice that they thrive under the moon's light. The moon's brightness during the night helps plants grow strong and tasty. Without this moonlight, plants struggle to grow and don’t taste as good.

So, this verse highlights a very important point: everything we enjoy, like delicious food from vegetables, is there because of the Supreme Lord's energy. Human life and society depend on this support. If we didn’t have the Lord's guidance and energy, we wouldn't have food or life as we know it. It's like saying that every meal we enjoy is a gift influenced by this higher power and the moon's role in nourishing the earth. Everything that is tasty and good for us has a connection to this divine energy.

Other Verses of Chapter 15

Verse 1
The Blessed Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.

Verse 2
The branches of this tree extend downward and upward, nourished by the three modes of material nature. The twigs are the objects of the senses. This tree also has roots going down, and these are bound to the fruitive actions of human society.

Verse 3
Its form is not perceived here as such, nor its end, origin, foundation, or resting place; having cut asunder this firmly rooted peepul tree with the strong axe of non-attachment.

Verse 4
Then, that goal should be sought for, to which, having gone, none returns again. I seek refuge in that Primeval Purusha, from whence streamed forth the ancient activity or energy.

Verse 5
One who is free from illusion, false prestige, and false association, who understands the eternal, who is done with material lust and is freed from the duality of happiness and distress, and who knows how to surrender unto the Supreme Person, attains to that eternal kingdom.

Verse 6
That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world.

Verse 7
The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.

Verse 8
The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.

Verse 9
The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, tongue, and nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.

Verse 10
The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this.

Verse 11
The endeavoring transcendentalist, who is situated in self-realization, can see all this clearly. But those who are not situated in self-realization cannot see what is taking place, though they may try to.

Verse 12
The splendor of the sun, which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, comes from Me. And the splendor of the moon and the splendor of fire are also from Me.

Verse 14
I am the fire of digestion in every living body, and I am the air of life, outgoing and incoming, by which I digest the four kinds of foodstuff.

Verse 15
I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.

Verse 16
There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material world every entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every entity is called infallible.

Verse 17
Besides these two, there is the greatest living personality, the Lord Himself, who has entered into these worlds and is maintaining them.

Verse 18
Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.

Verse 19
Whoever knows Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without doubting, is to be understood as the knower of everything, and he therefore engages himself in full devotional service, O son of Bharata.

Verse 20
This is the most confidential part of the Vedic scriptures, O sinless one, and it is disclosed now by Me. Whoever understands this will become wise, and his endeavors will know perfection.

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