Word meanings
- adhibhūtam
- the ever changing physical manifestation
- kṣaraḥ
- perishable
- bhāvaḥ
- nature
- puruṣaḥ
- the cosmic personality of God, encompassing the material creation
- ca
- and
- adhidaivatam
- the Lord of the celestial gods
- adhiyajñaḥ
- the Lord of all sacrifices
- aham
- I
- eva
- certainly
- atra
- here
- dehe
- in the body
- deha-bhṛtām
- of the embodied
- vara
- O best
Translations
Adhibhuta—knowledge of the elements—pertains to My perishable nature, and the Purusha, or the Soul, is the Adhidaiva; I alone am the Adhiyajna here in this body, O best among the embodied.
Matter consists of forms that perish; Divinity is the Supreme Self; and He who inspires the spirit of sacrifice in man, O noblest of their race, is I Myself, Who now stand in human form before thee.
That which exists in the physical plane is the mutable entity, and what exists in the divine plane is the Person. O best among the embodied beings, I Myself am the entity that exists in the sacrifice within this body.
हे देहधारियोंमें श्रेष्ठ अर्जुन ! क्षरभाव अर्थात् नाशवान् पदार्थको अधिभूत कहते हैं, पुरुष अर्थात् हिरण्यगर्भ ब्रह्माजी अधिदैव हैं और इस देहमें अन्तर्यामीरूपसे मैं ही अधियज्ञ हूँ।Commentary
Adhibhuta the perishable nature the changing universe of the five elements with all its objects all the material objects everything that has birth the changing world of names and forms. Adhidaiva Purusha literally means that by which everything is filled (pur to fill). It may also mean that which lies in this body. It is Hiranyagarbha or the universal soul or the sustainer from whom all living beings derive their sensepower. It is the witnessing consciousness. Adhiyajna Consciousness the presiding deity of sacrifice.
The Lord of all works and sacrifice is-Vishnu. Lord Vishnu identifies Himself with all sacrificial acts. Yajna is verily Vishnu, says the Taittiriya Samhita of the Veda. Lord Krishna says? I am the presiding deity in all acts of sacrifice in the body. All sacrifices are done by the body and so it may be said that they rest in the body.