Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 9.17

pitāham asya jagato

mātā dhātā pitāmahah

vedyam pavitram omkāra

rik sāma yajur eva ca

SYNONYMS

pitā — father; aham — I; asya — of this; jagatah — universe; mātā — mother; dhātā — supporter; pitāmahah — grandfather; vedyam — what is to be known; pavitram — that which purifies; om-kāra — the syllable om; rik — the Rig Veda; sāma — the Sāma Veda; yajuh — the Yajur Veda; eva — certainly; ca — and.

TRANSLATION

I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable om. I am also the Rig, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas.

PURPORT

The entire cosmic manifestations, moving and nonmoving, are manifested by different activities of Krishna's energy. In the material existence we create different relationships with different living entities who are nothing but Krishna's marginal energy; under the creation of prakriti some of them appear as our father, mother, grandfather, creator, etc., but actually they are parts and parcels of Krishna. As such, these living entities who appear to be our father, mother, etc., are nothing but Krishna. In this verse the word dhātā means "creator." Not only are our father and mother parts and parcels of Krishna, but the creator, grandmother and grandfather, etc., are also Krishna. Actually any living entity, being part and parcel of Krishna, is Krishna. All the Vedas, therefore, aim only toward Krishna. Whatever we want to know through the Vedas is but a progressive step toward understanding Krishna. That subject matter which helps us purify our constitutional position is especially Krishna. Similarly, the living entity who is inquisitive to understand all Vedic principles is also part and parcel of Krishna and as such is also Krishna. In all the Vedic mantras the word om, called pranava, is a transcendental sound vibration and is also Krishna. And because in all the hymns of the four Vedas — Sāma, Yajur, Rig and Atharva — the pranava, or omkāra, is very prominent, it is understood to be Krishna.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness