Chapter 9 Shloka 16

अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञ: स्वाधाहमहमौषधम्।

मन्त्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम्।।१६।।

I am the resolve, I am the yagya,

 I am the offering to the ancestors,

I am the remedy, I am the mantra,

 I am the offering of clarified butter,

 I am the fire, and I am the very act

of offering oblations to the sacred fire.

Chapter 9 Shloka 16

अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञ: स्वाधाहमहमौषधम्।

मन्त्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम्।।१६।।

The Lord now speaks of the adherent of Gyan Yagya. For him:

I am the resolve, I am the yagya, I am the offering to the ancestors, I am the remedy, I am the mantra, I am the offering of clarified butter, I am the fire, and I am the very act of offering oblations to the sacred fire.

For one who performs gyan yagya incessantly, the Lord is the ‘Kratu’ (क्रतु).

a) The resolve of yagya.

b) The ability or potential to perform such a yagya.

c) The intellect necessary to perform such yagya.

d) The latent memory of such yagya that persists in the individual’s intellect.

Yagya karma is that which is performed in the great cauldron of such sacrificial worship.

Yagya (यज्ञ)

Little one, for the one who performs the gyan yagya:

a) the world which constitutes the cauldron of the devotee’s sacrificial offering is Brahm;

b) Brahm Himself is the prowess or ability to perform such a gyan yagya;

c) the constant memory that Brahm is all, is also to be attributed to Brahm;

d) the yagya itself is the Lord;

e) the Lord constitutes ‘svadha’ as well.

Svadhaa (स्वधा)

Svadhaa is that offering which is given to one’s forefathers. It could therefore be concluded that the food that sustains the traditions of one’s forefathers is svadhaa. Svadhaa constitutes the noble attributes of one’s forefathers. It connotes the culture of one’s ancestors.

Aushadha (औषध)

Aushadha is that:

a) which annihilates disease;

b) which enhances health;

c) which nourishes the body;

d) which energises the sense organs.

1. The remedy which erases all the diseases of one who practices gyan yagya,

2. The medicine which establishes one in one’s Self,

3. The potion which fills a divine energy into the organs of perception and action,

4. That medication which renders the intellect pure and pristine,

5. The remedy which eradicates the affliction of birth and death,

is naught but the Lord Himself.

Mantra (मन्त्र)

For the gyani bhakta, or the devotee replete with knowledge who performs gyan yagya, the mantra or the devotional chant that accompanies such a yagya is also the Lord Himself.

Mantra is that:

a) which is uttered to invoke a certain deity;

b) which is chanted to invoke the power of a particular deity;

c) which is a eulogy of someone’s divinity and unique nature;

d) which is an elucidation of someone’s divine and unique attributes.

The sacred dialogue between the Lord and one who has a strong and fervent desire for union with the Lord is a mantra. A mantra is a heartfelt prayer. The utterances that emanate from the heart of one who is enraptured with love for the Supreme constitute the essence of a mantra.

Little one, the strength of a mantra rests in the truth of the seeker’s heart; or his love for the Truth. Such a mantra can transform the individual instantly.

Ajyam (आज्यम्)

1. Liquefied, clarified butter.

2. After ‘churning’ Vidya and Avidya with the ‘stick’ of the discerning intellect, the ‘butter’ of knowledge emerges; its enlightened practice and translation into one’s life is the flow that is known as Ajyam.

3. Supreme nectar is Ajyam.

The Lord says, “I am Ajyam” and the gyani bhakta believes and accepts this fact completely.

Hutam (हुतम्)

The Lord now says, “I am the oblation offered by a gyani bhakta into the sacrificial fire of knowledge. I am also the very act of yagya.”

Little one, now understand all this carefully. The Lord is describing the attitude of unity that imbues the mind of a gyani bhakta. Such a gyani bhakta incessantly believes the Lord to be the doer of every deed performed by his body. Indeed, he truly knows that every deed enacted by his body is also the Lord.

One could say that it is not he who abides in his own body – instead, his body is a dwelling place for his Lord. He does not claim his body, or any action of that body. He does not claim his intellect or his mind. He is ever absorbed in the Atma. Perceived from yet another point of view, the Lord Himself proclaims through this shloka, that He Himself constitutes all the actions performed in life and He is in fact the very flow of life.