Chapter 10, Verse 31
पवनः पवतामस्मि रामः शस्त्रभृतामहम् | झषाणां मकरश्चास्मि स्रोतसामस्मि जाह्नवी ||१०-३१||
pavanaḥ pavatāmasmi rāmaḥ śastrabhṛtāmaham . jhaṣāṇāṃ makaraścāsmi srotasāmasmi jāhnavī ||10-31||
Meaning
10.31 Among the purifiers (or the speeders) I am the wind; Rama among the warriors am I; among the fishes I am the shark; among the streams I am the Ganga.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Among purifiers Krishna is the wind (pavana), which cleanses and carries life; among the wielders of weapons, He is Rama, the very embodiment of dharma; among rivers, the holy Ganga (Jāhnavī), whose waters India has revered for millennia as sanctifying.
Two of these glories are profoundly purifying — the wind and the Ganga — fitting symbols for the soul's cleansing. And the naming of Rama is itself a treasure: the avatar whose every act upheld righteousness, whose name has become a mantra of liberation. To meditate on these is to be drawn toward purity and dharma. The wind moves freely yet touches all; the Ganga flows ever downward in humble service yet purifies whoever it touches. In such images the Divine teaches the soul how to live.
💡 Key Takeaway
Like the purifying wind and the sacred river, let the Divine draw your life toward purity and selfless flow.
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.