kāntis tejaḥ prabhā sattā
candrāgny-arkarkṣa-vidyutām
yat sthairyaḿ bhū-bhṛtāḿ bhūmer
vṛttir gandho 'rthato bhavān
kantih -- the attractive glow; tejah -- brilliance; prabha -- luminosity; satta -- and particular existence; candra -- of the moon; agni -- fire; arka -- the sun; riksha -- the stars; vidyutam -- and lightning; yat -- which; sthairyam -- permanence; bhu-bhritam -- of mountains; bhumeh -- of the earth; vrittih -- the quality of sustaining; gandhah -- fragrance; arthatah -- in truth; bhavan -- 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.
Sri Vasudeva, in telling Krishna that He is the essence of the sun, moon, stars, lightning and fire, is only reiterating the opinion of scripture, both sruti and smriti. The Svetasvatara Upanishad (6.14), for example, states,
na tatra suryo bhati na candra-tarakam
nema vidyuto bhanti kuto 'yam agnih
tam eva bhantam anu bhati sarvam
tasya bhasa sarvam idam vibhati
"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 Srimad Bhagavad-gita (15.12), the Supreme Lord says,
yad aditya-gatam tejo
jagad bhasayate 'khilam
yac candramasi yac cagnau
tat tejo viddhi mamakam
"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."
