7.10
बीजं मां सर्वभूतानां विद्धि पार्थ सनातनम् ।
बुद्धिर्बुद्धिमतामस्मि तेजस्तेजस्विनामहम् ॥
bījaṃ māṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ viddhi pārtha sanātanam
buddhir buddhimatām asmi tejas tejasvinām aham
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन), called Pārtha (पार्थ) again.
The verse
Know me, Pārtha (पार्थ), as the eternal seed of all beings. I am the understanding of those who understand, and I am the brilliance of the brilliant.
नेपालीमा
मलाई सबै भूतको नित्य बीज भनी चिन्, हे पार्थ। बुझ्नेहरूको बुद्धि म हुँ, र तेजस्वीहरूको तेज म हुँ।
Where it sits
7.8 and 7.9 placed him as the mark inside things. This verse pulls that back to a seed, and then uses understanding and brilliance, already named in the eightfold nature and in fire, as what he is in the people who have them.
Split: बीजम् + माम् + सर्व-भूतानाम् + विद्धि + पार्थ + सनातनम् + बुद्धिः + बुद्धिमताम् + अस्मि + तेजः + तेजस्विनाम् + अहम्
bījam + mām + sarva-bhūtānām + viddhi + pārtha + sanātanam + buddhiḥ + buddhimatām + asmi + tejaḥ + tejasvinām + aham
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| बीजम् | bījam | accusative singular | the seed. |
| माम् | mām | accusative | me. |
| सर्व-भूतानाम् | sarva-bhūtānām | genitive plural | of all beings. |
| विद्धि | viddhi | imperative, 2nd singular | know. |
| पार्थ | pārtha | vocative | Pārtha (पार्थ). |
| सनातनम् | sanātanam | accusative singular, neuter | eternal, from of old. Agrees with bījam (बीजम्). |
| बुद्धिः | buddhiḥ | nominative singular | understanding. |
| बुद्धिमताम् | buddhimatām | genitive plural of buddhimat (बुद्धिमत्) | of those who have understanding. |
| अस्मि | asmi | present, 1st singular | I am. |
| तेजः | tejaḥ | nominative of tejas (तेजस्) | brilliance. |
| तेजस्विनाम् | tejasvinām | genitive plural of tejasvin (तेजस्विन्) | of the brilliant. |
| अहम् | aham | nominative | I. |
The phrases
bījam mām sarva-bhūtānām viddhi sanātanam (बीजम् माम् सर्व-भूतानाम् विद्धि सनातनम्) is a double accusative. Know me as the seed. The seed is sanātanam (सनातनम्), not a seed that is used up in the sprouting. Of all beings: the genitive sarva-bhūtānām (सर्व-भूतानाम्) says whose seed.
बुद्धिः बुद्धिमताम् अस्मि buddhiḥ buddhimatām asmi and तेजः तेजस्विनाम् अहम् tejaḥ tejasvinām aham are one pattern twice. He is the understanding of the people who understand, and the brilliance of the brilliant. The genitive is "of," the people in whom the quality shows. He is that quality, not a second copy of it.
Sanskrit in this line
बुद्धिः + बुद्धिमताम् buddhiḥ + buddhimatām is recited buddhir buddhimatām (बुद्धिर्बुद्धिमताम्). iḥ (इः) before a voiced consonant becomes r (र्). The same change before a vowel was bhūmir āpaḥ (भूमिरापः) in 7.4. Voiced consonant or vowel, the iḥ (इः) becomes r (र्).
buddhimatām (बुद्धिमताम्) is the genitive plural of a stem in --mat (मत्), "having." tejasvinām (तेजस्विनाम्) is the genitive plural of a stem in --vin (विन्), also "having." Both answer "of the ones who have it." The nominative beside each genitive is the thing they have, and that thing is what he says he is.
Say it back
The seed first, and it has to be eternal. Then the two "of" phrases. If sanātanam (सनातनम्) drops, the seed sounds like a beginning that is over, and the line is gone.