Chapter 7: Jñāna Vijñāna Yoga – Knowledge and its Actualization: Verse 9
पुण्यो गन्ध: पृथिव्यां च तेजश्चास्मि विभावसौ ।
जीवनं सर्वभूतेषु तपश्चास्मि तपस्विषु ॥
puṇyo gandha: pṛthivyāṃ ca
tejaścāsmi vibhāvasau
jīvanaṃ sarva-bhūteṣu
tapaścāsmi tapasviṣu – 7.9
I am the divine fragrance of the earth, brilliance of fire, life in all beings and austerity in ascetics.
Chapter 7: Jñāna Vijñāna Yoga – Knowledge and its Actualization - Verse 9
Ma Gurupriya
It is our senses that reveal and interact with the world, including our own body. Sound, touch, taste, colour, smell are qualities the senses alone can grasp. World is an aggregate of these, called tanmātrās, subtle, sentient vibrations.
Krishna refers to smell first, the quality of earth, on which we are born and we live. Breath and heat are the primary symptoms of life. We smell through breath. Krishna’s first reference thus becomes quite pregnant. Likewise, fire has its property of brilliance and heat our senses identify.
Krishna then goes to life, found in all sentient beings. Life makes the body animate and active. Body and senses are inert, unable to do anything by themselves.
Krishna also brings austerity, the backbone of ascetic life. Austerity represents an inner power expressed through discipline and restraint. Success of spiritual life rests upon austerity. Sensory restraint, inner evenness and integrated personality, all imply the need and presence of austerity.
