Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10, Verse 36 (BG 10.36) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

I am the dice among games of chance. I am the splendor of the splendid. The teaching of the Bhagavad Gita was imparted by the Lord Sri Krishna to Arjuna, a warrior prince of his time, with great fervor as a dharma-preacher, to awaken Arjuna to the understanding of his own dharma. Therefore, the purpose of the Gita is to make Hindus truly Hindu—to reawaken them to their own dharma. This work of reawakening cannot be accomplished successfully unless the essence of our dharma-shastras is explained to the common people in their own language. The example given here is such as to be immediately comprehensible to Arjuna. The reason is that his entire life was a chain of sorrows, which he had to endure solely because of the gambling addiction of his elder brother Yudhishthira. No other example could have been so clear to Arjuna. The modern generation may not find this example equally comprehensible, since gambling is no longer as popular. Yet in its place, other examples can readily be recognized. I am the radiance of the radiant. Whoever wishes to use this example of vibhuti for the practice of meditation will come to know that the scripture has said nothing here. The radiance of splendid things does not possess the qualities of those things themselves. That radiance does not even possess its own qualities—radiance is merely an experience. To make this experience easily accessible, the mind illuminates the magnitude and glory of that object; yet in the experience of radiance, there is nothing of the qualities of the material substance underlying that object. In short, as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa once said: Truth is indeed a light, but it is a light without qualities. I am victory, I am effort, and I am the virtue of the virtuous. As described above, here too these qualities speak of that state or condition of the mind which is formed through such continuous reflection. When qualities such as effort and virtue are maintained, the mind becomes extremely peaceful and steady, wherein the reflected glory of the conscious atman shines so clearly and brilliantly that it seems as though that itself is Truth. Therefore, in the language of attribution of the aforementioned qualities, the Lord says that these qualities are I myself, whereas in reality they are the dharmas of the inner instrument. We must not forget that the fifty-four examples given here to demonstrate the presence of the one Supreme Self within multiplicity are all practices of meditation taught to a devoted seeker. This should not be understood as a description of visible objects. Only when the seeker understands the inner meaning of these shlokas through his own direct experience can his learning be said to be complete. The Lord, offering further examples, speaks thus: