kÄntis tejaḥ prabhÄ sattÄ
candrÄgny-arkarká¹£a-vidyutÄm
yat sthairyaá¹ bhÅ«-bhá¹›tÄá¹ bhÅ«mer
vá¹›ttir gandho 'rthato bhavÄn
kÄntiḥ - the attractive glow; tejaḥ - brilliance; prabhÄ - luminosity; sattÄ - and particular existence; candra - of the moon; agni - fire; arka - the sun; á¹›ká¹£a - the stars; vidyutÄm - and lightning; yat - which; sthairyam - permanence; bhÅ«-bhá¹›tÄm - of mountains; bhÅ«meḥ - of the earth; vá¹›ttiḥ - the quality of sustaining; gandhaḥ - fragrance; arthataḥ - in truth; bhavÄn - Yourself.
The glow of the moon, the brilliance of fire, the radiance of the sun, the twinkling of the stars, the flash of lightning, the permanence of mountains and the aroma and sustaining power of the earth — all these are actually You.
ÅšrÄ« Vasudeva, in telling Kṛṣṇa that He is the essence of the sun, moon, stars, lightning and fire, is only reiterating the opinion of scripture, both Å›ruti and smá¹›ti. The ÅšvetÄÅ›vatara Upaniá¹£ad (6.14), for example, states:
na tatra sÅ«ryo bhÄti na candra-tÄrakaá¹
nemÄ vidyuto bhÄnti kuto ’yam agniḥ
tam eva bhÄntam anu bhÄti sarvaá¹
tasya bhÄsÄ sarvam idaá¹ vibhÄti
“There [in the spiritual sky] the sun does not shine, nor does the moon, the stars or lightning as we know them, what to speak of ordinary fire. It is by the reflection of the spiritual sky’s effulgence that everything else gives light, and thus through its radiance this entire universe becomes luminous.†And in ÅšrÄ«mad Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (15.12), the Supreme Lord says:
yad Äditya-gataá¹ tejo
jagad bhÄsayate ’khilam
yac candramasi yac cÄgnau
tat tejo viddhi mÄmakam
“The splendor of the sun, which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, comes from Me. And the splendor of the moon and the splendor of fire also come from Me.â€
