yac cāpi sarva-bhūtānāḿ
bījaḿ tad aham arjuna
na tad asti vinā yat syān
mayā bhūtaḿ carācaram
Translation of Bhagavad Gita 10.39
Furthermore, O Arjuna, I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being—moving or nonmoving—that can exist without Me.
Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
Everything has a cause, and that cause or seed of manifestation is Krishna. Without Krishna’s energy, nothing can exist; therefore He is called omnipotent. Without His potency, neither the movable nor the immovable can exist. Whatever existence is not founded on the energy of Krishna is called maya, “that which is not.”
Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
I am the seed of all beings, the cause of their sprouting, because without me, moving and non-moving creatures would not exist. This means they would be false things.
Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:
10.39 Of all beings, in whatever condition they may exist, whether manifest or not, I alone am that state. Whatever host of beings are said to exist, they do not exist without Me as their Self. In the statement, ‘Nothing that moves or does not move exists without Me’, it is taught that the Lord exists as the Self, as said in the beginning: ‘I am the Self, seated in the hearts of all beings’ (10.20). The purport is that the entire host of beings in every state, is united with Me, their Self. By this He makes it clear that He, being the Self of all things, is the ground for His being denoted by everything in co-ordinate predication.
Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:
Lord Krishna reveals that He is the bijam or root seed and germinating origin of all living entities because there is no living entity moving or stationary that can exist without Him.
Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:
Lord Krishna is revealing that it is not possible for anything to exist without Him. The Moksa Dharma text reveals that the Supreme Lord who exhibited His universal form is of endless forms, of endless expansions, of endless manifestations, of endless incarnations and is verily the endless one.
Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:
Lord Krishna reveals that He is the bijam or root seed and origin of all beings existing in all situations and manifestations. There is nothing absolutely whatsoever animate or inanimate which can exist without Lord Krishna as He pervades the total material existence externally as the brahman or the spiritual substratum pervading all existence and internally as paramatma the Supreme Soul within the etheric heart of each and every living entity. From the primary creator Brahma above even the heavenly planets down to a blade of grass everything in existence is inseparably connected to Lord Krishna. As Lord Krishna is present within all causes He is naturally present in all results as well. He is the cause of all causes. The Svetavatara Upanisad VI.IX states: The Supreme Lord is the cause of the lord of all causes.
Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:
10.39 Ca, moreover; O Arjuna, yat api, whatsoever; is the bijam, seed, the source of growth ; sarva-bhutanam, of all beings; tat, that I am. As a conclusion of the topic the Lord states in brief His divine manifestations: Na tat asti bhutam, there is no thing; cara-acaram, moving or non-moving; yat, which; syat, can exist; vina maya, without Me. For whatever is rejected by Me, from whatever I withdraw Myself will have no substance, and will become a non-entity. Hence the meaning is that everything has Me as its essence.
Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:
10.19-42 Hanta te etc. upto jagat sthitah. I am the Soul etc. (verse 20) : By this [the Bhagavat] wards off the exclusion [of any being as different form Him]. Otherwise the sentences like ‘Of the immovable [I am] the the Himalayas’ (verse 25) etc., would amount to the exclusive statement that the Himalayan range is the Bhagavat and not any other one. In that case, the indiscriminateness of the Brahman is not established and hence the realisation of the Brahman would be a partial (or conditioned) one. For, the [present] text of exposition is intended for that seeker whose mind cannot contemplate on the all-pervasiveness [of the Brahman], but who [at the same time] is desirous of realising that [all-pervasiveness]. Hence, while concluding, [the Bhagavat] teaches the theory of duality-cumunity by saying ‘whatsoever being exists with the manifesting power’ etc., and then concludes the topic with the theory of absolute unity, as ‘Or what is the use of this elaboration;…..I remain pervading this [universe] by a single fraction [of Myself] This has been declared indeed [in the scriptures] as : ‘All beings constitute [only] His one-fourth; His [other] immortal three-forths are in the heaven.’ (Rgveda, X, xc, 3). Thus, all this and the prime cause of creatures, are nothing but the Bhagavat (Absolute). And hence, He Himself becomes the object of knowledge of all, but being comprehended with the different strange qualities.
Sanskrit Shloka Without Transliteration Marks:
yac capi sarva-bhutanam
bijam tad aham arjuna
na tad asti vina yat syan
maya bhutam caracaram
Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:
yat — whatever; ca — also; api — may be; sarva-bhūtānām — of all creations; bījam — seed; tat — that; aham — I am; arjuna — O Arjuna; na — not; tat — that; asti — there is; vinā — without; yat — which; syāt — exists; mayā — Me; bhūtam — created being; cara-acaram — moving and nonmoving.
