Sanskrit
पुरोधसां च मुख्यं मां विद्धि पार्थ बृहस्पतिम् । सेनानीनामहं स्कन्दः सरसामस्मि सागरः ॥ २४ ॥
purodhasāṃ ca mukhyaṃ māṃ viddhi pārtha bṛhaspatim senānīnām ahaṃ skandaḥ sarasām asmi sāgaraḥ
Translation
And know Me, O Pârtha, of household priests the chief, Brihaspati: of generals I am Skanda; of lakes I am the ocean.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Institutional authority: Brihaspati as chief of household priests, Skanda as chief of generals. Priestly and military leadership are named in the same breath as equally valid domains for a vibhuti example — worth noting given Arjuna is himself a warrior receiving this teaching. Priest and general — purodhas and senānī — are placed side by side without ranking, one point among many where the list treats spiritual and martial pre-eminence as equally fit vehicles.
Study deeper
Word by word
- purodhasāṃ ca mukhyaṃ māṃपुरोधसां च मुख्यं मां
- among priests, know Me as the chief (purodhasām + ca + mukhyam + mām)
- viddhi pārtha bṛhaspatimविद्धि पार्थ बृहस्पतिं
- know, O Pārtha, Bṛhaspati (viddhi + pārtha + bṛhaspatim)
- senānīnām ahaṃ skandaḥसेनानीनां अहं स्कन्दः
- among commanders I am Skanda (senānīnām + aham + skandaḥ)
- sarasām asmi sāgaraḥसरसां अस्मि सागरः
- among waters I am the ocean (sarasām + asmi + sāgaraḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Krishna doesn’t stop at naming the best of priests broadly — purodhasām names the household priest specifically, a narrower guild within the larger priestly class. The list’s precision is doing quiet work here: even a fairly narrow, specific role turns out to have its own singular best example, which means the principle scales down as easily as it scales up, from the whole of scripture to one household’s officiant.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- The pursuit of doing something genuinely well applies to your narrowest, most unglamorous responsibilities as much as to the broad ambitions you're proud of — don't reserve real effort only for the roles you consider big enough to matter.
Professional
- A narrow, specialized function on your team deserves the same pursuit of real excellence as the visible, high-profile roles — the principle that 'someone should be genuinely great at this' scales down to the smallest job, not just the flashy ones.
Family & Social
- The smallest recurring role in family life — who handles the bills, who keeps the calendar — deserves being done really well, not just tolerated as a chore. Excellence doesn't require a bigger stage than the one already in front of you.
Ask yourself
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