Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9, Verse 16 (BG 9.16) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

9.16 अहम् I? क्रतुः sacrifice? अहम् I? यज्ञः the sacrifice? स्वधा the offering to Pitris or ancestors? अहम् I? अहम् I? औषधम् the medicinal herbs and all plants? मन्त्रः sacred syllable? अहम् I? अहम् I? एव also? आज्यम् ghee or clarified butter? अहम् I? अग्निः the fire? अहम् I? हुतम् the offering.Commentary Kratu is a kind of Vedic sacrifice.Yajna is the worship enjoined in the Smriti or the holy books laying down lay and the code of conduct.I am the Mantra? the chant with which the oblation is offered to the manes or ancestors? and the shining ones (the Devatas or gods).Hutam also means the act of offering.Aushadham All plants including rice and barley or medicine that can cure diseases. (Cf.IV.24)

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

In this verse, the thought expressed here was also articulated in a celebrated verse before this. Through the metaphor of the ritual of sacrifice and the various materials employed within it, this verse conveys the understanding of the atman's all-pervading nature and its universal essence. The performance of rituals as described in the ritual sections of the scriptures constitutes the method of worship. The sacrifice enjoined in the Vedas is called kratu, and the action prescribed in the dharma-shastras is called yajna. Such sacrifices were performed during the age of the Mahabharata. The food offered to the ancestors is called swadha. Here in the teaching to Arjuna, it is revealed that all these sacrifices and rituals are myself. Not only this, but the herbs used in the sacrifice, the clarified butter (ghee) offered as oblation into the fire, the fire itself, the mantras chanted in the performance of action, and the ritual of sacrifice—all these in their various forms are expressions of the atman alone. Just as when many ornaments are fashioned from gold, gold itself can truly say: "I am the earring, I am the ring, I am the necklace, I am the lustre of all these," and so forth—in the same way, because the atman is the essential truth underlying all forms and all phenomena, the statement of Bhagavan Sri Krishna will be acceptable to all readers through philosophical understanding.