Lord Krishna

Divine Teacher

The Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.

Speaking: Chapter 9, Verse 16

Verse 16

The Yoga of Royal Knowledge and Royal Secret

But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the offering.

Context & Meaning

Krishna reveals Himself as every element of sacred ritual: the ceremony, the sacrifice, the offering, the herb, the mantra, the clarified butter, the fire, and the act of oblation itself. There is no part of any worship that is not the Divine. Every element of the sacred is the Sacred itself in disguise.

Scholar Commentaries

1 commentary · Public domain

Ramanujacharya

Vishishtadvaita

By identifying as every component of Vedic sacrifice, Krishna reveals that all ritual action is ultimately directed at Him, whether the worshipper knows it or not. The entire tradition of sacred ceremony is His own self-disclosure.