Chapter 10 Shloka 37
वृष्णीनां वासुदेवोऽस्मि पाण्डवानां धनञ्जय:।
मुनीनामप्यहं व्यास: कवीनामुशना कवि:।।३७।।
The Lord further proclaims:
I am Vaasudeva amongst the Vrishnis and Dhananjaya amongst the Pandavas; I am Vyaas amongst the Munis and Shukracharya amongst the lyrical poets.
A. “I am Vaasudeva amongst the Yaadavas.”
Just as the Lord is establishing His identification with the entire universe, He is also including within that orbit, His own body.
Little one, if all else is the Lord, can His own body be excluded from that entirety? This cannot be so! What must be understood is His complete detachment with His own physical being. He speaks of Himself with complete objectivity “I am Vaasudeva amongst the Vrishnis!” (‘Yadavas’ and ‘Vrishnis’ are the clan and the sub-caste to which Vaasudeva’s (Lord Krishna’s) family belonged)
B. “O Arjuna, I am You as well!”
1. The Lord makes this statement in complete identification with Arjuna.
2. He descends to Arjuna’s level to make him understand the reality.
3. He goes to Arjuna’s level and endeavours to awaken his intellect.
4. He is repeatedly speaking of His divine manifestations and His completeness in order to help Arjuna’s spiritual practice.
Arjuna, gripped at present with the tendency to flee battle, had been speaking like a coward. Even so the Lord said, “O Arjuna, You too, are verily I!”
In this shloka, the Lord refers to Arjuna as Dhananjaya, one who conquers wealth. The Lord never tried to accumulate wealth for Himself – yet He is identifying Himself here with Arjuna’s inner desire to attain wealth and the kingdom. He thus urges Arjuna towards the path of victory. This is how non-duality, Advaita, manifests itself in life.
C. “I am Vyaas amongst the Munis.”
Ved Vyaas was a connoisseur of the Scriptures. He was the author of great epics such as the Mahabharat, the Srimadbhagavad and several other scriptures relating to dharma. This Gita too, was his work.
The Lord says to Arjuna, “I am Vyaas.”
D. The Lord says, “I am the poet Ushana.”
Ushana was the son of Bhrigu. He is also known as Shukracharya. Shukracharya was an extremely wise and learned poet of Vedic literature. The Lord identifies Himself with that great poet.
