7.8
रसोऽहमप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशिसूर्ययोः ।
प्रणवः सर्ववेदेषु शब्दः खे पौरुषं नृषु ॥
raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśisūryayoḥ
praṇavaḥ sarvavedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṃ nṛṣu
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन), whom he calls Kaunteya (कौन्तेय), son of Kuntī (कुन्ती).
The verse
I am the taste in water, Kaunteya (कौन्तेय), and the light in the moon and the sun, the syllable om (ओम्) in all the Vedas, the sound in space, and the manliness in men.
नेपालीमा
म पानीमा स्वाद हुँ, हे कौन्तेय, चन्द्रमा र सूर्यमा प्रकाश हुँ, सबै वेदमा ॐ अक्षर हुँ, आकाशमा शब्द हुँ, र पुरुषहरूमा पुरुषत्व हुँ।
Where it sits
7.7 said the world is strung on him. This verse starts showing the thread in things a person already meets: taste, light, the syllable, sound, manliness. 7.9 and 7.10 and 7.11 keep the same sentence going.
Split: रसः + अहम् + अप्सु + कौन्तेय + प्रभा + अस्मि + शशि-सूर्ययोः + प्रणवः + सर्व-वेदेषु + शब्दः + खे + पौरुषम् + नृषु
rasaḥ + aham + apsu + kaunteya + prabhā + asmi + śaśi-sūryayoḥ + praṇavaḥ + sarva-vedeṣu + śabdaḥ + khe + pauruṣam + nṛṣu
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| रसः | rasaḥ | nominative singular | taste. The savor in a thing. |
| अहम् | aham | nominative | I. |
| अप्सु | apsu | locative plural of āp (आप्) | in the waters. |
| कौन्तेय | kaunteya | vocative | Kaunteya (कौन्तेय). |
| प्रभा | prabhā | nominative singular | light. |
| अस्मि | asmi | present, 1st singular | I am. |
| शशि-सूर्ययोः | śaśi-sūryayoḥ | locative dual | in the moon and the sun. śaśi (शशि) "moon," sūrya (सूर्य) "sun." --yoḥ (योः) is the dual ending. |
| प्रणवः | praṇavaḥ | nominative singular | the praṇava (प्रणव), the syllable om (ओम्). |
| सर्व-वेदेषु | sarva-vedeṣu | locative plural | in all the Vedas. |
| शब्दः | śabdaḥ | nominative singular | sound. |
| खे | khe | locative of kha (ख) | in space. The same kha (ख) that was the fifth of the eight in 7.4. |
| पौरुषम् | pauruṣam | nominative singular, neuter | what belongs to a man. The manliness. From puruṣa (पुरुष). |
| नृषु | nṛṣu | locative plural of nṛ (नृ) | in men. |
The phrases
रसः अहम् अप्सु rasaḥ aham apsu and prabhā asmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ (प्रभा अस्मि शशि-सूर्ययोः) are the first two "I am." Taste in water. Light in the moon and the sun. He is not saying he is water, or the sun. He is the quality by which each is known.
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu (प्रणवः सर्व-वेदेषु) is the syllable om (ओम्) in every Veda. śabdaḥ khe (शब्दः खे) is sound in space. pauruṣam nṛṣu (पौरुषम् नृषु) is the manliness in men. Three more, with asmi (अस्मि) still governing them from the first half.
Sanskrit in this line
apsu (अप्सु) does not look like āpaḥ (आपः) from 7.4, but it is the same word. āp (आप्) "water" is a consonant stem. The nominative plural is āpaḥ (आपः). The locative plural is apsu (अप्सु). The ending --su (सु) answers "in."
nṛṣu (नृषु) is the same ending on nṛ (नृ) "man." sarva-vedeṣu (सर्व-वेदेषु) is the regular a (अ)-stem locative plural, --eṣu (एषु), and it answers the same question. Three "in" words, two old stems and one ordinary one.
रसः + अहम् rasaḥ + aham is recited raso 'ham (रसोऽहम्). अः + अ aḥ + a becomes o (ओ), and the following a (अ) is the avagraha.
Say it back
Five "I am" phrases, each with its "in." If praṇavaḥ (प्रणवः) becomes "prayer" in general, stay here. It is the syllable in the Vedas.