त्वमादिदेवः पुरुषः पुराणस्- त्वमस्य विश्वस्य परं निधानम् | वेत्तासि वेद्यं च परं च धाम त्वया ततं विश्वमनन्तरूप ||११-३८||
tvamādidevaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇasa- tvamasya viśvasya paraṃ nidhānam .
vettāsi vedyaṃ ca paraṃ ca dhāma tvayā tataṃ viśvamanantarūpa ||11-38||
Thou art the primal God, the ancient Purusha, the supreme refuge of this universe, the knower, the knowable and the supreme Abode. By Thee is the universe pervaded, O Being of infinite forms.
In simple words
Arjuna continues his praise: "You are the original God, the most ancient being, the ultimate resting place of this universe. You are the knower and what is known. You fill everything, in infinite forms."
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
Swami Sivananda
11.38 त्वम् Thou? आदिदेवः the primal God? पुरुषः Purusha? पुराणः the ancient? त्वम् Thou? अस्य of (this)? विश्वस्य of Universe? परम् the Supreme? निधानम् Refuge? वेत्ता Knower? असि (Thou) art? वेद्यम् to be known? च and? परम् the Supreme? च and? धाम abode? त्वया by Thee? ततम् is pervaded? विश्वम् the Universe? अनन्तरूप O Being of infinite forms.Commentary Primal God? because the Lord is the creator of the universe.Purusha? because the Lord lies in the body (Puri Sayanat).Nidhaanam That in which the world rests during the great deluge or cosmic dissolution.The pot comes out of the clay and gets merged in clay. Even so the world has come out of the Lord and gets dissolved or involved in the Lord. So the Lord is the material cause of the world. Therefore? He is the primal God and the supreme refuge also.Vetta Knower of the knowable things. As the Lord is omniscient? He knows all about the world? and He is the instrumental or the efficient cause of this world.Param Dhama Supreme Abode of Vishnu. Just as the rope (the substratum for the superimposed snake) pervades the snake? so also Brahman or Vishnu through His Nature as ExistenceKnowledgeBliss Absolute pervades the whole universe.Moreover --
Swami Chinmayananda
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.
# BG 11.38 — Translation of Meaning
You are the primordial divine consciousness, the original creator of all. From Your consciousness-nature alone has emerged Brahma, the creator of the universe. The atman, inseparable from the cosmic mind and intellect, is known as Brahma.
The entire cosmos dwells within the Supreme Self, and thus You are its ultimate foundation. The word "world" should not be understood as merely the gross physical realm, but rather as the unified manifestation of both the manifest and unmanifest principles described in the preceding verse.
When the word "world" is understood in this way, students of Vedanta will find no difficulty in comprehending the complete meaning of existence. We experience the world through the inert instruments of body, mind, and intellect. Being inert by nature, they possess no consciousness of their own. Only through their connection with the atman's consciousness do they function as conscious entities.
In truth, these inert substances cannot originate from the atman, for the atman is unchanging. Nor can we say the material world arose from some other independent cause, for the atman alone is the all-pervading, singular, non-dual reality. Therefore, Vedanta declares that this world is superimposed upon Brahman, just as in delusion a ghost appears superimposed upon a pillar. In such illusion, the pillar itself is mistaken for the ghost, its movements, and all resulting effects. In reality, the ghost has no existence apart from the pillar. Similarly, You are described here as the ordainer of the world's manifestation.
You are the knower and the known. Consciousness is that principle which grants reality to our experiences. Without being illumined by consciousness, knowledge of this inert world is impossible. Therefore, Lord Krishna, whose nature is consciousness, is called the knower. All disciplines prescribed for self-realization follow this process: the mind, which is distracted by the senses, must be withdrawn from external objects and established in the nature of the atman. When the mind becomes free of all modifications, then the pure consciousness-nature of the atman becomes directly knowable. Thus the atman is called here the knowable principle—that which is worthy of being known.
The entire world is pervaded by You. Just as sweetness pervades all sweets, or water pervades all waves, so does the Supreme Self pervade the world. As was stated, the superimposed world has no existence apart from its substratum. The atman is that substratum upon which this manifold universe appears. Therefore, it is rightly said that You pervade this entire world. This is but a restatement of that truth proclaimed by the Upanishads: the infinite Brahman pervades all, yet none can contain it.