The Yoga of the Supreme Divine Personality
Verse 15.15
सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि सन्निविष्टो मत्तः स्मृतिर्ज्ञानमपोहनं च।वेदैश्च सर्वैरहमेव वेद्यो वेदान्तकृद्वेदविदेव चाहम्।।15.15।।
sarvasya chāhaṁ hṛidi sanniviṣhṭo mattaḥ smṛitir jñānam apohanaṁ cha vedaiśh cha sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-kṛid veda-vid eva chāham
Word Meanings
sarvasya—of all living beings; cha—and; aham—I; hṛidi—in the hearts; sanniviṣhṭaḥ—seated; mattaḥ—from me; smṛitiḥ—memory; jñānam—knowledge; apohanam—forgetfulness; cha—as well as; vedaiḥ—by the Vedas; cha—and; sarvaiḥ—all; aham—I; eva—alone; vedyaḥ—to be known; vedānta-kṛit—the author of the Vedānt; veda-vit—the knower of the meaning of the Vedas; eva—alone; cha—and; aham—I
Translation · English
And I am seated in the hearts of all; from Me come memory and knowledge, as well as their absence. I am verily That which has to be known by all the Vedas; I am indeed the author of the Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas.
Deep Meaning · English
In this profound revelation, Krishna declares Himself as the ultimate substrate of all consciousness and the internal Witness residing within the heart of every being. This verse moves beyond the externalized worship of a distant God, establishing the Lord as the direct source of our cognitive faculties—memory, knowledge, and even the veil of forgetfulness that allows for individual experience. By anchoring these functions in Himself, Krishna demonstrates that our very sense of 'self' and 'knowing' is a reflection of the Divine Light operating within us, making the seeker inseparable from the Sought. Furthermore, this verse serves as the definitive bridge between the ritualistic framework of the Vedas and the experiential realization of Vedanta. Krishna identifies Himself as the 'Author of Vedanta' and the 'Knower of the Vedas,' asserting that the culmination of all scriptural pursuit is not the accumulation of intellectual data, but the experiential surrender to the Supreme Person. When the Vedas are stripped of their ceremonial husk, what remains is the heartbeat of Krishna, proving that the ultimate goal of all spiritual inquiry is the realization of the Divine within the heart.
The Divine is not merely an object of external study, but the very consciousness that empowers our intellect, memory, and ultimate realization of Truth from within.
Connected Verses
Krishna describes Himself as the indweller who moves all beings as if mounted on a machine, connecting His role as the witness to the movement of existence.
This verse reinforces the idea of the Light of consciousness dwelling in the hearts of all, illuminating the material world from within.
Krishna confirms here that He is the Self residing in the hearts of all, establishing the basis for the individual's existential connection to the Divine.
This serves as an essential companion, identifying Krishna as the 'intelligence of the intelligent,' affirming that our cognitive grasp of reality is His manifestation.
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