Shloka 26

Kṣetra–Kṣetrajña-Jñāna–Jñeya-Viveka

Field, Knower, Knowledge, and the Knowable

Devanagari script

अश्र॒त्थ: सर्ववृक्षाणां देवर्षीणां च नारद: । गन्धर्वाणां चित्ररथ: सिद्धानां कपिलो मुनि:

Transliteration

aśvatthaḥ sarvavṛkṣāṇāṃ devarṣīṇāṃ ca nāradaḥ | gandharvāṇāṃ citrarathaḥ siddhānāṃ kapilo muniḥ ||

Translation

Among all trees I am the aśvattha (the sacred fig); among the divine seers I am Nārada; among the Gandharvas I am Citraratha; and among the Siddhas I am the sage Kapila.

Word by Word

अश्वत्थःthe aśvattha (sacred fig tree)

सर्ववृक्षाणाम्of all trees

देवर्षीणाम्of the divine seers

चand

नारदःNārada

गन्धर्वाणाम्of the Gandharvas

चित्ररथःCitraratha

सिद्धानाम्of the Siddhas (perfected beings)

कपिलःKapila

मुनिःsage

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Aśvattha (sacred fig tree)

Nārada

Citraratha

Kapila

Devarṣis

Gandharvas

Siddhas

Arjuna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches recognition of the Divine through the highest and most revered exemplars within each category of beings and things—seeing the One presence expressed as the ‘best’ or most archetypal form, which supports devotion and ethical reverence toward the world.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna, in a sequence of identifications, voices a set of ‘I am’ statements that point to the Lord’s representative manifestations: the aśvattha among trees, Nārada among divine seers, Citraratha among Gandharvas, and Kapila among Siddhas—highlighting divine pervasion through celebrated figures and symbols.