अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञ: स्वधाहमहमौषधम् |
मन्त्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम् || 16||
ahaṁ kratur ahaṁ yajñaḥ svadhāham aham auṣhadham
mantro ’ham aham evājyam aham agnir ahaṁ hutam
aham—I; kratuḥ—Vedic ritual; aham—I; yajñaḥ—sacrifice; svadhā—oblation; aham—I; aham—I; auṣhadham—medicinal herb; mantraḥ—Vedic mantra; aham—I; aham—I; eva—also; ājyam—clarified butter; aham—I; agniḥ—fire; aham—I; hutam—the act offering;
Translation:
I am the sacrifice, I am the worship, I am the oblation to the manes, and I am cereal. I am the hymn, I am the melted butter, I am the fire, and I am the offering.
Commentary:
The universality of the Lord is declared by a number of illustrations. The seeker has to understand that the Lord is All, and everything. The false notion that man is seperate should be destroyed in the contemplation of the universal presence of the Lord in all objects and acts.
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KING PṚTHU ASKS FOR A BOON
ahaṃ kratuḥ—I am the Vedic sacrifice kratuḥ. Kratu is a kind of sacrifice described in the Śruti; it is a śrauta-karma. In Srimad Bhagavata, there is the story of King Prithu, who had performed 99 kratus. When he was about to finish his 100th kratu, Indra appeared in various forms and stealthily stole the sacrificial horse. This happened many times. Each time, Indra was identified, the horse was retrieved from him, and the sacrifice resumed. At last, when he stole again, the chief priest of the yajña decided to offer Indra himself in the fire.
Suddenly Lord Narayana appeared there and said, “O Prithu, it is I who appeared in the form of Indra. You are performing this offering to Me without any desires, so I wanted to reveal to you that completing the 100th yajña is not the real goal of your yajña. I am the fruit of your yajña. You perform all these yajñas only to get My vision. Hence, let them remain unfinished at 99, and the 100th one is Me.”
After declaring so, when the Lord asked Prithu to ask for a boon, Prithu sang a beautiful hymn in reply, “O Lord, I do not want any boons. Desire is the chief disease of the human mind. I do not want anything from You. I have seen You—the fruit of all spiritual practices! What more could I ask of You! But there is one thing I shall pray for. Even if I am to take birth again, let me not be born in such a place where there will be no contact with saints, where I cannot hear divine stories and spiritual talks, and where I may not have a chance to remember You.” His second prayer was, “Let every cell of my body become ears through which I can listen to the words of the sages, the Enlightened Beings. Let me drink with every cell of my body, that celestial Ganga of words that arise from their heart and flow out through their lips!” (Source: Srimad Bhagavad Gita – Elixir of Eternal Wisdom | Vol 1)
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 9 🔻 (34 Verses)
