Bhagavat gita adetailed study-chapter 9 -Brahmavidya the royal secret

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16. aham krathuh ahaam yajnaH svaDhaa aham aham

oushaDham

manthro aham aham eva aajyam aham agnih aham hutham

I am the krathu, I am the yajna, sacrifice, I am svadhaa, the offering made to pithrs, I am the herbs , I am the manthra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire and the act of offering.

This is the elaboration of the sloka 24 in chapter 4 where the Lord has said that the sacrifice, oblution, the fire, everything is Brahman. It means that all the actions and materials vedic or otherwise is nothing but Brahman.

Krathu is the sacrifice prescribed in the Vedas like agnishtoma, asvamedha etc. The word yajna denotes here all activities done with the spirit of yajna including the pancha maha yajnas prescribed fro the householder in the smrthi. SvaDhaa is the offering made to the pirthrs. Oushadham may mean all food good for the body and mind including the herbs used as medicine.

The Lord says he is the manthra, meaning the manthras used in the sacrifices as well in any ritualistic act. That is He is the means to get the result as well as the result.

Aajyam is the clarified butter used as an offering in the sacrifices which includes all offering like the soma juice etc. made into the fire by way of oblution. Not only the offering made ito the fire but He is also the fire itself as made out in the earlier sloka referred to above.

hutham is the act of offering. Vide, brahmarpanam brahmahaviH brahaagnou brahmaNaa hutham, sloka 24 of chapter 4.

17. pithaa aham asya jagathaH maathaa Dhaathaa

pithaamahaH

vedhyamm pavithram omkaara rkyajussaama eva cha

I am the father of this universe , the mother, the provider and the grandsire. I am the one to be known, pure, the pranava and the three Vedas, rk, yajus and sama.

The Lord is the pithaa , the father as everything came from Him, "I am the on who paces My seed into prkrthi which gives birth to this universe," He says in the 14th chapter, sloka 3. He is also the matha because the prakrthi is also a part of Him.

He is the Dhaathaa, the provider, who gives like and means of livelihood and also apportions the fruit of karma to everyone.

Pithaamaha means paternal grandfather. As Brahma is the creator of all and the Lord Narayana has created Brahma , he is the pithamaha of the universe.

Vedhyam means that to be known. The Lord is the ione and only thing to be known by which everything else comes to be known automatically. In Chandhogya Upanishad Uddhalaka AruNi asks his son Svethakethu whether he has learnt that by knowing which one knows all. When the son replied in the negative the father starts giving him the instruction on Brahman and what ensued was the famous upadesa `thathvamasi.' Krishna says in chapter 15 sloka 15 that he is the sole import of all the Vedas .'vedhaiScha sarvaih aham eva vedhayaH.' This is termed in the Vedanta ekavijnaanena sarvavijnaanam. In the chapter seven also Krishna said yath jnaathvaa na iha bhooyo anyath jnaatham avaSishyathe, knowing which you need to know nothing more. This is the knowledge of Brahman which is meant by vedhyam in this sloka.

 

pavithram omkaaram- The syllable Om which is synoymous with Brahman and which is the purifier of the mind. Omithekaaksharam brahma, says the Upanishad. The word pavithram could also be used separately, meaning ,"I am the purifier." We call the Ganges water as being pavitram because it purifies one destroying the sins. Simiarly the Lord is referred to as pavithra as the thought of Him purifies the heart. PavithraaNaam pavithram yo mangalaanaam cha mangalam, says Bhishma in his discourse on Vishnu sahasranama.

 

Not only He is the purport of the Vedas but He Himself is the Vedas. Hence the Lord says here rkyajusssaama eva cha (aham eva) I am the Vedas rk, Yajus and saama.