9. punyo gandhah prthivyarn
ca tejas. ca 'smi vi bhavasau
jivanam sarvabhutesu
tapas` na 'semi tapasvisu
(9) I am the pure fragrance in earth and brightness in fire. I am the life in all existences and the austerity in ascetics.
Cp. "Thou art Reality, the Divine Spirit, not material, not life-less. Thou art the life of the universe, the life of all creatures.[1]
10. bijam math sarvabhütãnãth
viddhi partha sanalanam
buddhir buddhimatam asmi
tejas tejasvinam aham
(10) Know Me, O Partha (Arjuna), to be the eternal seed of all existences. I am the intelligence of the intelligent; I am the splendour of the splendid.
11. balam balavatam ca
'ham kamaragavivarjitam
dhaa'maviruddho bhutesu
kamo 'smi bharatarsabha
(11) I am the strength of the strong, devoid of desire and passion. In beings am I the desire which is not contrary to law, 0 Lord of the Bharatas (Arjuna).
kamaraga: desire and passion. 8. distinguishes kama as desire for what is absent[2] and raga as affection for what one has obtained.[3] Desire as such is not evil. Selfish desire requires to be rooted out. The desire for union with the Divine is not wrong. Chandogya Up. refers to desires as essentially real (satya), though overlaid by what is unreal (anrta), VIII, 3. Our desires and activities, if they are expressive of the spirit in us and denve from the true spiritual personality, become a pure overflowing of the Divine will.
12. ye cat 'va sattvika bhava
rajasas tamasas ca ye
matta eve 'ti tan viddhi
na tv aham tesu to mayi
(12) And whatever states of being there may be, be they harmonious (sattvika), passionate (rajasa), slothful (tamasa) —know thou that they are all from Me alone. I am not in them, they are in Me.
The author rejects the Samkhya doctrine of the independence of prakrti. He asserts that everything constituted by the three gunas is in no sense a self-dependent essence independent of God, but springs from Him alone. While He contains and comprehends all, they do not contain and comprehend Him. This is the distinction between God and His creatures. They are all informed by the Divine but their changes do not touch the integrity of the Divine. He is not subject to any one else, while all things are subject to Him.
