गाम् आविश्य च भूतानि धारयाम्य् अहम् ओजसा । पुष्णामि चौषधीः सर्वाः सोमो भूत्वा रसात्मकः ॥
gām āviśya ca bhūtāni dhārayāmy aham ojasā | puṣṇāmi cauṣadhīḥ sarvāḥ somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ ||
I enter earth to uphold all beings by My energy, and as Soma — the nourishing moon-essence — I feed all plants.
Word by word (3)
- gām āviśya ca bhūtāni dhārayāmy aham ojasā
- — entering (āviśya) the earth (gām), I uphold (dhārayāmi) all beings (bhūtāni) by My force/energy (ojasā) — the gravitational/structural principle of earth as divine
- puṣṇāmi cauṣadhīḥ sarvāḥ
- — I nourish (puṣṇāmi) all herbs/plants (auṣadhīḥ sarvāḥ) — the nurturing principle in vegetation
- somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ
- — having become Soma (somas = the moon, also the ritual drink), the essence/juice (rasātmaka = whose nature is rasa/sap), I nourish — Soma as the cosmic nourishing moisture
Entering the earth, I support all beings through My energy. And having become the moon, full of nourishing essence, I nourish all plants.
A modern analogy
A tree's roots go deep and invisible — yet everything the tree becomes (trunk, leaf, fruit) draws on that invisible root-force. Krishna's presence in earth (ojas) and moon (rasa) is like the invisible root-force that holds, nourishes, and gives essence to all visible biological life.
V13 moves from the cosmic luminaries (V12) to the biological sustaining forces: earth and moon. This is not poetry but a systematic Sāṃkhya-informed cosmology: light (V12) → structural force (earth/ojas, V13) → metabolic fire (V14). The triad sun-moon-earth covers all three domains of existence: celestial, biological, somatic. Krishna claims ALL THREE as His manifest presence.
Soma as 'rasātmaka' connects to a rich Vedic and Āyurvedic tradition: rasa is the fundamental life-sap, the essence of nutrition. All medicinal/food properties of plants are ultimately this divine rasa-principle. 'Somo bhūtvā' (having become Soma) is striking — Krishna does not merely send Soma, He BECOMES it. This is the intimate immanence of Brahman in Vedānta.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Penetrating the earth I support all beings by My Energy; and having become the watery moon I nourish all herbs. [1]
Entering the earth with My energy, I support all beings, and I nourish all the herbs, becoming the watery moon. [4]
Entering the earth, I support all beings by my energy; and having become the juicy moon, I nourish all herbs. [9]
Entering into the earth I uphold creatures by my force; and becoming the juicy moon I nourish all herbs. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
For the protection of the good, destruction of wickedness, establishment of dharma — I come, age after age.
All beings arise from these two natures as their womb — and I am the origin and dissolution of the entire universe.
Brahman is the Imperishable; Adhyātma is its presence in each body; Karma is the cosmic offering sustaining all beings.