Chapter 10: Vibhūti-yoga / Verse 21

Krishna includes a variety of items ranging from the evident and interactable ones to concepts from eighteen mythological texts. People fondly read and also practise their teachings. Hence Krishna gives due place to them in his enumeration. As he exhorted Arjuna to outlive the Vedas, because they offer no more than what the world extends, namely the triguna products (2.45), the staunch seeker has to outgrow them and focus on the fundamental message of Gita.

Sun, though self-luminous, lights up only outer objects. Vishnu, like sun, is self-effulgent, revealing inner and outer presences alike. Among asterisms, the most tangible is the moon, whose brilliance is unique in many ways. Life on earth depends on sun and moon alike.

While countless stars fill the sky, the sun brings life to the earth with its refreshing radiance, and the moon excels by cooling the earth. Hence the importance Krishna gives to the luminaries.