Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10, Verse 20 (BG 10.20) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

10.20 अहम् I? आत्मा the Self? गुडाकेश O Gudakesa? सर्वभूताशयस्थितः seated in the hearts of all beings? अहम् I? आदिः the beginning? च and? मध्यम् the middle? च and? भूतानाम् of (all) beings? अन्तः the end? एव even? च and.Commentary O Gudakesa I am the soul (Pratyagatma) which exists in the hearts of all beings and I am also the source or origin? the middle or stay? and the end of all created beings. I am the birth? the life and the death of all beings. Meditate on Me as the innermost Self.Gudakesa means either coneror of sleep or thickhaired.He who is able to meditate on the Self with Abheda Bhavana (attitude of nonduality)? is a alified aspirant (Adhikari) of the first class. He who is not able to meditate on the Self should think of the Lord in those things which are mentioned below. This type of meditation is for the aspirants of the middle class.

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

Modern

# BG 10.20 I am the atman dwelling in the heart of all beings. This is the universal truth with which Sri Krishna begins this discourse. Just as a well-trained professor of scientific inquiry commences the discussion of his cherished subject of research with a concise and substantive statement, and then, after examining that subject in detail through reasoned analysis, arrives at the conclusion of that same initial statement—so too shall we observe that at the conclusion of this chapter, the Blessed Lord reiterates this truth with even greater force: that I sustain this entire cosmos by a mere fraction of My being. In the first line of this verse, the Lord reveals His all-pervading nature, and in the second line, He expresses this same truth in another form: I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings. In truth, the external world of the moving and the stationary is the projection of the mind. In other words, the external world is the infinite perceived otherwise through the lens of the limited mind. This reality may also be understood in relation to the inner realm of thought. Every modification of consciousness arises in and dissolves back into consciousness itself. Without consciousness, no mental modification can arise. This truth is reiterated further on. The Blessed Lord Sri Krishna never tires of repeating this supreme reality. Now, while dwelling in this world of the moving and the stationary, He teaches the disciplines and methods of the worship of the Divine.