7.9
पुण्यो गन्धः पृथिव्यां च तेजश्चास्मि विभावसौ ।
जीवनं सर्वभूतेषु तपश्चास्मि तपस्विषु ॥
puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṃ ca tejaś cāsmi vibhāvasau
jīvanaṃ sarvabhūteṣu tapaś cāsmi tapasviṣu
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन). The sentence is still the "I am" of 7.8.
The verse
And I am the pure smell in the earth, the brilliance in fire, the life in all beings, and the austerity in those who practice it.
नेपालीमा
अनि म पृथ्वीमा शुद्ध गन्ध हुँ, आगोमा तेज हुँ, सबै भूतमा जीवन हुँ, र तप गर्नेहरूमा तप हुँ।
Where it sits
7.8 put him in water, moon and sun, Veda, space, and men. This verse finishes that kind of list: earth, fire, living beings, the person under austerity. The next verse changes the shape, from "I am the quality in the thing" to "know me as the seed."
Split: पुण्यः + गन्धः + पृथिव्याम् + च + तेजः + च + अस्मि + विभावसौ + जीवनम् + सर्व-भूतेषु + तपः + च + अस्मि + तपस्विषु
puṇyaḥ + gandhaḥ + pṛthivyām + ca + tejaḥ + ca + asmi + vibhāvasau + jīvanam + sarva-bhūteṣu + tapaḥ + ca + asmi + tapasviṣu
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| पुण्यः | puṇyaḥ | nominative masculine | pure, good. Agrees with gandhaḥ (गन्धः). |
| गन्धः | gandhaḥ | nominative singular | smell. |
| पृथिव्याम् | pṛthivyām | locative of pṛthivī (पृथिवी) | in the earth. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. It ties this verse to the list in 7.8. |
| तेजः | tejaḥ | nominative of tejas (तेजस्) | brilliance, the heat of fire. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. |
| अस्मि | asmi | present, 1st singular | I am. |
| विभावसौ | vibhāvasau | locative of vibhāvasu (विभावसु) | in fire. A name of fire: the one whose wealth is light. |
| जीवनम् | jīvanam | nominative singular, neuter | life. |
| सर्व-भूतेषु | sarva-bhūteṣu | locative plural | in all beings. |
| तपः | tapaḥ | nominative of tapas (तपस्) | austerity. The heat of practice. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. |
| अस्मि | asmi | present, 1st singular | I am. Said a second time. |
| तपस्विषु | tapasviṣu | locative plural of tapasvin (तपस्विन्) | in those who practice austerity. |
The phrases
puṇyaḥ gandhaḥ pṛthivyām (पुण्यः गन्धः पृथिव्याम्) is one pair. He is not every smell in the earth. He is the pure one. puṇyaḥ (पुण्यः) is doing that limiting.
tejaḥ asmi vibhāvasau (तेजः अस्मि विभावसौ) is the brilliance in fire. jīvanam sarva-bhūteṣu (जीवनम् सर्व-भूतेषु) is the life in every being, the same life the higher nature was said to be in 7.5. tapaḥ tapasviṣu (तपः तपस्विषु) is the austerity in the people who keep it.
Sanskrit in this line
tejaḥ (तेजः) and tapaḥ (तपः) are nominatives of stems in --s (स्). Before ca (च), that visarga becomes ś (श्), the same change as कः + चित् kaḥ + cit in 7.3.
तेजः + च + अस्मि tejaḥ + ca + asmi is recited tejaś cāsmi (तेजश्चास्मि). First aḥ (अः) before c (च्) becomes aś (अश्). Then च + अस्मि ca + asmi becomes cāsmi (चास्मि), because अ + अ a + a becomes ā (आ). तपः + च + अस्मि tapaḥ + ca + asmi does it again: tapaś cāsmi (तपश्चास्मि). The asmi (अस्मि) is inside the cluster. Do not lose the "I am."
Say it back
Four pairs. The smell has to stay the pure smell. If puṇyaḥ (पुण्यः) drops, the verse says he is smell in general, and that is not the line.