Sanskrit
वक्तुमर्हस्यशेषेण दिव्या ह्यात्मविभूतयः । याभिर्विभूतिभिर्लोकानिमांस्त्वं व्याप्य तिष्ठसि ॥ १६ ॥
vaktum arhasy aśeṣeṇa divyā hy ātmavibhūtayaḥ yābhir vibhūtibhir lokān imāṃs tvaṃ vyāpya tiṣṭhasi
Translation
Deign to tell without reserve of Thine own divine glories, by which glories Thou remainest, pervading these worlds.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Arjuna’s actual request begins here — tell, without reserve, of the divine glories by which Krishna pervades and sustains the worlds. The phrase vyāpya tiṣṭhasi, “pervading, remainest,” is the same verb pairing that closes the entire chapter in verse 42’s sthito jagat. Vyāpya tiṣṭhasi — “you stay, having pervaded” — is the frame for the whole vibhūti list: not thirty separate things Krishna is, but thirty windows onto one pervasion. BG 10.42 collapses them back to ekāṃśena sthito jagat.
Study deeper
Word by word
- vaktum arhasy aśeṣeṇaवक्तुं अर्हस्य् अशेषेण
- you should tell without reserve (vaktum + arhasi + aśeṣeṇa)
- divyā hy ātmavibhūtayaḥदिव्या ह्य् आत्मविभूतयः
- the divine glories of your Self (divyāḥ + hi + ātma-vibhūtayaḥ)
- yābhir vibhūtibhir lokān imāṃsयाभिः विभूतिभिः लोकान् इमांस्
- by which glories, these worlds (yābhiḥ + vibhūtibhiḥ + lokān + imān)
- tvaṃ vyāpya tiṣṭhasiत्वं व्याप्य तिष्ठसि
- you abide, pervading (tvam + vyāpya + tiṣṭhasi)
Commentary
Site Commentary
“Pervading, remainest” — vyāpya tiṣṭhasi — is the exact phrase this chapter reaches for again at its own close, in verse 42’s sthito jagat. Arjuna’s opening request and Krishna’s closing summary are built from the same verb pairing, so the entire vibhūti catalogue in between sits inside a frame that names its own boundary at both ends.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When starting a long project or piece of writing, choose your opening language deliberately — this verse's "pervading, remainest" becomes the exact phrase the whole chapter closes on in verse 42. Words chosen at the start often reappear at the close, and a well-chosen frame makes the middle easier to hold.
Professional
- When kicking off a long initiative, phrase your closing success criteria to echo the language of your opening ask — this verse's opening request and the chapter's closing summary share the same verb pairing. Bookending an initiative with matched language at both ends makes the whole arc easier for stakeholders to track.
Family & Social
- When opening a hard conversation with a specific phrase or commitment, try returning to that same phrase at the end — this verse's language reappears verbatim at the chapter's close forty verses later. A matched opening and closing gives a difficult conversation a frame that holds it together.
Ask yourself
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