तपाम्यहमहं वर्षं निगृह्णाम्युत्सृजामि च ।अमृतं चैव मृत्युश्च सदसच्चाहमर्जुन ॥
tapāmy aham ahaṃ varṣaṃ nigṛhṇāmy utsṛjāmi ca | amṛtaṃ caiva mṛtyuś ca sad asac cāham arjuna ||
- तपामि · tapāmi
- I give heat, shine
- अहम् · aham
- I
- वर्षम् · varṣam
- the rain
- निगृह्णामि · nigṛhṇāmi
- I withhold
- उत्सृजामि · utsṛjāmi
- I release
- अमृतम् · amṛtam
- immortality
- मृत्युः · mṛtyuḥ
- death
- सत् · sat
- being, the real
- असत् · asat
- non-being, the unreal
- अर्जुन · arjuna
- O Arjuna
“I give heat; I withhold and release the rain. I am immortality and death alike, O Arjuna — being and non-being.”
— Original plain-language translation
Opposites meet in one speaker: sun and rain, nectar and death, is and is-not. Nature's alternations are his gestures, not rivals. The verse dares the mind past dualism into a single source.
— Reader's notes (original)