Vibhuti Yoga
Continuing to reveal himself, Krishna offers Arjuna a long, deliberately overwhelming catalogue of his vibhutis — the manifestations through which his infinite nature can be glimpsed within the finite world. He identifies himself as the best or most essential thing within one category after another: among the Vedas, the Samaveda; among mountains, Meru; among rivers, the Ganga; among weapons, the thunderbolt; among letters, the syllable A — case after case illustrating that anything outstanding, beautiful or powerful in creation is a spark of his own splendor. Rather than a complete inventory (which he says would be endless), the chapter is meant to train Arjuna's perception to see divinity woven through the ordinary world, and it deliberately builds anticipation for what follows: having heard this catalogue of glories, Arjuna, astonished, will go on in the next chapter to ask Krishna to show him this cosmic nature directly.
“I am the source of all; from me everything proceeds. Knowing this, the wise, filled with loving devotion, worship me.”
“To those who are constantly devoted and worship me with love, I give the understanding by which they come to me.”
“I am the Self, seated in the hearts of all beings; I am the beginning, the middle, and the very end of all beings.”
“Of the Vedas, I am the Samaveda; of the gods, I am Indra; of the senses, I am the mind; in living beings, I am consciousness.”
“Whatever being there is that is glorious, prosperous, or powerful, know that to have sprung from a mere fraction of my splendor.”
“But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of myself, I stand, supporting this entire universe.”
Chapter summaries composed for MyBrahman; verse translations from the public-domain Kashinath Trimbak Telang translation (1882, Sacred Books of the East, vol. 8) where directly checkable, and/or widely-attested traditional renderings of famous verses, cited by standard chapter.verse numbering.