Chapter 9: Rājavidyā-rājaguhya-yoga – Kingly Knowledge, Kingly Secret: Verse 16
अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञ: स्वधाहमहमौषधम् ।
मन्त्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम् ॥
ahaṃ kratur-ahaṃ yajña:
svadhāham-aham-auṣadham
mantro’ham-ahamevājyamaham-
agnir-ahaṃ hutam – 9.16
I (the Supreme) am the kratu (a Vedic rite), I am the yajña (the smritis prescribe). I am the offering to departed souls, and all the herbs and medicinal plants. I am mantra (the invocational word) as well as the ghee offered to sacrificial fire. I am the fire into which oblations are made, as also the materials offered to sacrificial fire.
Chapter 9: Rājavidyā-rājaguhya-yoga – Kingly Knowledge, Kingly Secret - Verse 16
Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Krishna shows how the Supreme is manifest as all constituents of the world, all one uses in his life. Yajμa denotes Vedic and allied sacrifices. But Krishna covers under yajμa the whole variety of religio-devotional pursuits, with or without materials (4.29-33).
He also includes all materials offered to departed souls, although they form a different category. All herbs and medicinal plants are also the Supreme’s manifestation.
Sounds and words uttered in religious performances, including prayers and praises, are invocations. Krishna sums up everything and all – yajμas (sacrifices) including the fire in the ceremonial altar, the ghee (purified butter) and all the items poured as oblation – as the Supreme itself!
