Chapter 10, Verse 28
आयुधानामहं वज्रं धेनूनामस्मि कामधुक् | प्रजनश्चास्मि कन्दर्पः सर्पाणामस्मि वासुकिः ||१०-२८||
āyudhānāmahaṃ vajraṃ dhenūnāmasmi kāmadhuk . prajanaścāsmi kandarpaḥ sarpāṇāmasmi vāsukiḥ ||10-28||
Meaning
10.28 Among weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows I am the wish-fulfilling cow called Kamadhenu; I am the progenitor, the god of love; among serpents I am Vasuki.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Among weapons Krishna is the vajra, the irresistible thunderbolt; among cows, Kamadhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow of abundance; among serpents, Vasuki, their king. Then He names Himself Kandarpa, the power of generation and love — but with an important nuance.
The word prajanaḥ ('the progenitor') frames this carefully: He is the procreative force that serves the right purpose of life, not desire run wild. This distinction matters. The same energy of love and creation that, misdirected, becomes bondage is, rightly oriented, a glory of the Divine. Even the elemental drives within us — power, abundance, love — are sacred in their proper place. The teaching is not to deny life's energies but to recognize their Source and let them serve dharma rather than enslave us.
💡 Key Takeaway
Life's elemental energies — power, abundance, love — are sacred when rightly directed toward their Divine source.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | भूय एव महाबाहो शृणु मे परमं वचः | यत्तेऽहं प्रीयमाणाय वक्ष्यामि हितकाम्यया ||१०-१||
śrībhagavānuvāca . bhūya eva mahābāho śṛṇu me paramaṃ vacaḥ . yatte.ahaṃ prīyamāṇāya vakṣyāmi hitakāmyayā ||10-1||
10.1 The Blessed Lord said Again, O mighty-armed Arjuna, listen to my supreme word which I will declare to thee who who art beloved, for thy welfare.
न मे विदुः सुरगणाः प्रभवं न महर्षयः | अहमादिर्हि देवानां महर्षीणां च सर्वशः ||१०-२||
na me viduḥ suragaṇāḥ prabhavaṃ na maharṣayaḥ . ahamādirhi devānāṃ maharṣīṇāṃ ca sarvaśaḥ ||10-2||
10.2 Neither the hosts of the gods nor the great sages know My origin; for in every way I am the source of all the gods and the great sages.
बुद्धिर्ज्ञानमसम्मोहः क्षमा सत्यं दमः शमः | सुखं दुःखं भवोऽभावो भयं चाभयमेव च ||१०-४||
buddhirjñānamasammohaḥ kṣamā satyaṃ damaḥ śamaḥ . sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ bhavo.abhāvo bhayaṃ cābhayameva ca ||10-4||
10.4 Intellect, wisdom, non-delusion, forgiveness, truth, self-restraint, calmness, happiness, pain, existence or birth, non-existence or death, fear and also fearlessness.