Skip to content
Chapter 8 · Verse 9
🪈 Krishna speaks
Illustration for Chapter 8, Verse 9

कविं पुराणमनुशासितारमणोरणीयांसमनुस्मरेद्यः। सर्वस्य धातारमचिन्त्यरूपमादित्यवर्णं तमसः परस्तात्॥

kaviṁ purāṇamanuśāsitāramaṇoraṇīyāṁsamanusmaredyaḥ | sarvasya dhātāramacintyarūpamādityavarṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt ||

Word by Word 15 words
कविम्
kavi seer, poet, the wise

the Seer, the all-knowing one

पुराणम्
purāṇa ancient, primeval

the ancient one, older than all

अनुशासितारम्
anu along śās to rule, to govern

the ruler, the one who guides all

अणोः
aṇu atom, the minute

than the atom

अणीयांसम्
aṇu atom, the minute

subtler, smaller than the smallest

अनुस्मरेत्
anu along, continually smṛ to remember

should remember, should meditate on

यः
yad who

he who, whoever

सर्वस्य
sarva all

of all, of everything

धातारम्
dhā to hold, to support, to sustain

the supporter, the upholder

अचिन्त्य
a not cint to think

unthinkable, beyond the mind's grasp

रूपम्
rūp form, shape

form, appearance

आदित्य
aditya the sun

the sun

वर्णम्
varṇa colour, hue

coloured, radiant

तमसः
tamas darkness

than darkness

परस्तात्
para beyond

beyond, on the far side of

describes who to remember: the One who is the wise Seer, more ancient than anything, the gentle ruler of all; smaller than the smallest atom yet the supporter of the whole universe; whose true form no mind can fully picture; who shines like the sun and is beyond all darkness. He is both tinier than tiny and vaster than vast — and brighter than every shadow.

कथा

Smaller Than Small, Beyond the Night

From the Upanishadic tradition

On a clear winter night, the Vamadeva sat with three students on a flat rock above the river. The sky was scattered with stars, and not a single lamp burned for miles.

"Teacher," said the youngest, "you tell us to meditate on God. But what do I picture? Is He big or small? Near or far?"

Vamadeva picked up a grain of sand from a crack in the rock and held it on his fingertip. "Look at this grain," he said. "Now imagine something smaller. A speck of dust. Smaller — the tiny pieces the dust is made of, too small to see. Smaller still, beyond anything your eyes could ever find." He paused. "The One we meditate on is subtler even than that. Smaller than the smallest. He lives inside the very heart of everything, closer to you than your own breath."

The student frowned. "Then He is tiny?"

"Now look up," said Vamadeva. The boys tilted their heads back. The river of stars poured across the whole dome of the sky. "All of that — every star, every world, the space between them, all of it rests on Him, is held up by Him, like a cloth held in a hand. Tinier than the tiniest, and yet holding up the largest. Both at once."

"But it is dark," said the second student. "If He shines, why is the night so black?"

Vamadeva smiled. "The night is dark to your eyes. But He is the light that has no night. Think of the sun — even now, on the far side of the earth, it is blazing, and our darkness is only the shadow of the world turning. His light is like that, but with no earth to cast a shadow. He is the colour of the sun, beyond all darkness, forever. The ancient Seer, older than the first morning, the quiet ruler of all that is."

The youngest student closed his eyes. He tried to hold both pictures at once — smaller than a grain of sand, vaster than all the stars; hidden in his own heartbeat, and shining beyond every shadow. He could not quite think it. And Vamadeva, watching, nodded — because that was exactly right. "His form is unthinkable," the said softly. "You do not picture Him. You simply remember Him, and grow still."

चिन्तनम्

God is described as both smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest. Can you imagine something so tiny it can't be seen, and so vast it holds all the stars — both at the same time? What does that make you feel?