त्वमादिदेवः पुरुषः पुराण स्त्वमस्य विश्वस्य परं निधानम्। वेत्तासि वेद्यं च परं च धाम त्वया ततं विश्वमनन्तरूप ॥
tvamādidevaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇa stvamasya viśvasya paraṃ nidhānam| vettāsi vedyaṃ ca paraṃ ca dhāma tvayā tataṃ viśvamanantarūpa ||
Primal God, Ancient Puruṣa, supreme Refuge — Knower and Known and supreme Abode — by You is this universe pervaded!
Word by word (3)
- tvam ādidevaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ
- — You are the Primal God, the Ancient Puruṣa · Ādidevaḥ = Primal God (ādi = first, primal, original; deva = shining being/deity). This is the most fundamental divine epithet: the God who pre-exists all other gods. Puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ = the Ancient Puruṣa (puruṣa = the Cosmic Person of the Puruṣasūkta Ṛgveda 10.90 — the thousand-headed being from whose parts the cosmos was fashioned; purāṇa = ancient, old, primeval — same as purāṇa texts). The phrase echoes V11.18's 'sanātanaḥ puruṣaḥ' (Eternal Puruṣa) and connects to the Puruṣasūkta's vision of the cosmic person whose sun-eye (V11.19's śaśi-sūrya-netram) Arjuna described. Arjuna now completes the identification.
- vettāsi vedyaṃ ca paraṃ ca dhāma
- — You are the Knower, the Known, and the Supreme Abode/State · Vettā = Knower (from √vid = to know; vettā = one who knows thoroughly). Vedyam = that which is to be known (gerundive/verbal adjective of √vid = what ought to be known, the proper object of knowledge). Paraṃ dhāma = supreme abode, highest state (dhāma = abode, dwelling, the radiance/splendor of something; paraṃ dhāma = the highest abode = the transcendent state beyond all manifest reality). The three together: Vettā (the Subject of knowing) + vedyam (the Object of knowing) + paraṃ dhāma (the State in which knowing occurs) = the complete epistemological structure. In Brahman, knower-known-knowing are unified — a philosophical statement of non-dual consciousness.
- tvayā tataṃ viśvam anantarūpa
- — By You is this universe pervaded, O Infinite-formed! · Tatam = pervaded, stretched out, spread (past participle of √tan = to stretch, extend; tatam = spread over, pervaded). Viśvam = the universe, all existence. Anantarūpa = O Infinite-formed! (ananta = infinite; rūpa = form). The phrase tvayā tatam viśvam is a direct echo of Ch.9.4's 'mayā tatam idaṃ sarvam' (by Me is all this pervaded). V38 closes Arjuna's observation of the cosmic form with the most fundamental Upaniṣadic teaching: the entire universe is pervaded by the Infinite. The anantarūpa (infinite-formed) epithet in vocative = Arjuna addressing the same form that overwhelmed him with ugra-rūpa; now he calls it ananta-rūpa — the same form reframed from terror to infinity.
Arjuna catalogs Krishna's most ancient cosmic identities: the Primal God, the Vedic Cosmic Person, the supreme resting-place of all existence, simultaneously the Knower and the Known and the Abode of knowing. He closes with: by You is the entire universe pervaded.
A modern analogy
Like recognizing that the intelligence behind the universe is not just the creator but also the material, the purpose, the container, the knowing faculty, AND what is known — all these roles that seem separate are unified in one Reality.
Sit with this: V38 says Krishna is simultaneously the Knower (subject), the Known (object), and the supreme Abode (the state of knowing). If the one who knows, what is known, and the act of knowing are all the same Reality — what does this mean for your own inner life?
V38's vettā-vedyam-paraṃ-dhāma (Knower-Known-Supreme-Abode) is the Gita's most compressed statement of the Upaniṣadic epistemology. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3.31 teaches: 'vijñātāram are kena vijānīyāt' (by what would you know the Knower?). The Knower cannot be an object of its own knowing. V38's solution: Brahman is SIMULTANEOUSLY the vettā (knower-subject), vedyam (known-object), and paraṃ dhāma (the ground where knowing occurs) — transcending the subject-object structure altogether. This is Advaita's non-dual epistemology: in Brahman, the knower-known duality collapses into unity.
Bhakti lens
Arjuna's anantarūpa address (O Infinite-formed!) takes the terrifying ugra-rūpa (fierce-formed) of V31 and reframes it completely. The form has not changed — what changed is Arjuna's recognition. From the bhakti perspective, this IS the transformation: the God who frightens and the God who comforts are the same form seen from different levels of understanding. Mature bhakti can hold both simultaneously — the terrible AND the beautiful in the same beloved.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Thou art the Primal God, the Ancient Purusha; Thou art the Supreme Abode of all this. Thou art the Knower and the Knowable and the Supreme Abode. By Thee is all pervaded, O Being of infinite forms. [1]
Thou art the Primal Deva, the Ancient Purusha; Thou art the Supreme Refuge of this universe. Thou art the Knower, and the One Thing to be known; Thou art the Supreme Goal. By Thee is the universe pervaded, O boundless Form. [4]
Thou, of all souls the Soul! The Comprehending Whole! Of being formed, and formless being the Framer; O Utmost One! O Lord! Older than eld, Who stored the worlds with wealth of life! O Treasure-Claimer, Who wottest all, and art Wisdom Thyself! O Part in All, and All; for all from Thee have risen. [7]
Thou art the Primal Deity, the Ancient Purusha, the Supreme Support of the universe, the Knower, the Known, and the Supreme Abode. By Thee is pervaded the infinite universe. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
By Me, in unmanifest form, all this world is pervaded — all beings are in Me, but I do not dwell in them.
You are the Imperishable, the Supreme — Refuge of all, undying Guardian of Eternal Dharma, Ancient Puruṣa.
Freedom from karma's bonds does not come from inaction. Perfection does not come from mere renunciation.
Why should they not bow? Greater than Brahmā — You are the Infinite Imperishable, Being, Non-Being, the Supreme Beyond!
I am the origin of all; from Me all evolves — knowing this, the wise worship Me with loving devotion.
Mind on Me, life surrendered to Me — awakening each other, always speaking of Me — they are content and rejoice.