Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10, Verse 28 (BG 10.28) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

Among weapons, I am the thunderbolt. Among the celestial weapons, the supreme thunderbolt is infallible. There was once a demon named Vritra who would repeatedly assault the heavens and disturb their peace. Through his tremendous power, he had become invulnerable. At that time, a great sage and ascetic named Dadhichi offered his very bones to create a divine weapon for his destruction. With this weapon fashioned from his bones, Vritra was slain. Among cattle, I am Kamadhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow. Kamadhenu was obtained from the churning of the cosmic ocean. It is believed to be a unique cow through which all our desires can be fulfilled. Among the causes of creation, I am Kamadeva, the god of desire. According to Indian understanding, the deity of desire is Kandarpa—Kamadeva, Madan—depicted as a youthful, well-formed figure. This god of desire wounds each of the five senses of human beings with his five flower-tipped arrows from the bow of his gentle smile. This relates to a truth of biology. The creation of progeny should not be understood merely as the act of conception or the watering process in the plant kingdom. According to Indian philosophy of desire, it means the satisfaction of all those sensual inclinations that are expressed through all the senses. A true philosopher is a true scientist, and therefore lacks that false shame or hesitation which hypocritical moralists—naturally unethical yet outwardly rigid in their morality—typically possess. The teachers of Vedanta analyze desire with the same clinical detachment as a professor in a medical college. The Lord declares: Among all the causes of creation, I am Kandarpa. In the realm of worldly enjoyment, Kamadeva represents the complete satisfaction of a person's physical, mental, and intellectual nature. Among serpents, I am Vasuki. According to the descriptions in the Puranas, Vasuki is coiled around the finger of Lord Shiva. Though this serpent is small enough to take the form of Shiva's ring, it is employed as a rope in the churning of the cosmic ocean. Naturally, the word Vasuki recalls that teaching from the Upanishads which states that the Atman is subtler than the atom and greater than the greatest thing. Therefore, it is fitting that among serpents, Vasuki is declared to be the manifestation of the Lord. There is a distinction between a serpent and a serpent-king. A serpent has a single hood, while a serpent-king has many hoods. The divine singer of the Gita continues to reveal his glorious manifestations in his beautiful melody.