Shloka 22
Kirmīra-rākṣasa-saṃgamaḥ (Encounter and Slaying of Kirmīra) | किर्मीरेण सह भीमसेनसमागमः
वायुर्वैश्रवणो रुद्र: काल: खं पृथिवी दिश: । अजकश्षराचरगुरु: स्रष्टा त्वं पुरुषोत्तम,परंतप! पुरुषोत्तम! आप ही पहले नारायण होकर फिर हरिरूपमें प्रकट हुए। ब्रह्मा, सोम, सूर्य, धर्म, धाता, यम, अनल, वायु, कुबेर, रुद्र, काल, आकाश, पृथ्वी, दिशाएँ, चराचरगुरु तथा सृष्टिकर्ता एवं अजन्मा आप ही हैं
arjuna uvāca | vāyur vaiśravaṇo rudraḥ kālaḥ khaṃ pṛthivī diśaḥ | ajaḥ kṣarācara-guruḥ sraṣṭā tvaṃ puruṣottama parantapa ||
Arjuna said: “O Supreme Person, O scorcher of foes! You are indeed all these cosmic powers and principles—Vāyu, Kubera (Vaiśravaṇa), Rudra, Time, Space, Earth, and the Directions. You are the Unborn, the teacher and lord of all that perishes and all that endures, and the very Creator. In you the many names of the world converge into one sovereign reality.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a unitive vision: the many deities and cosmic principles (wind, wealth, destruction, time, space, earth, directions) are ultimately expressions of one Supreme Person, who is unborn and the source and governor of all beings. Ethically, it supports humility and devotion by relocating power and agency from the ego to the divine ground of order (dharma).
Arjuna addresses the Supreme Lord in a hymn-like mode, identifying him with major Vedic and Purāṇic powers. The speech functions as recognition and surrender: Arjuna acknowledges that the Lord is not merely one deity among others but the creator and inner ruler behind the entire cosmos.