āyudhānām ahaḿ vajraḿ
dhenūnām asmi kāma-dhuk
prajanaś cāsmi kandarpaḥ
sarpāṇām asmi vāsukiḥ
Translation of Bhagavad Gita 10.28
Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows I am the surabhi. Of causes for procreation I am Kandarpa, the god of love, and of serpents I am Vasuki.
Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
The thunderbolt, indeed a mighty weapon, represents Krishna’s power. In Krishnaloka in the spiritual sky there are cows which can be milked at any time, and they give as much milk as one likes. Of course such cows do not exist in this material world, but there is mention of them in Krishnaloka. The Lord keeps many such cows, which are called surabhi. It is stated that the Lord is engaged in herding the surabhi cows. Kandarpa is the sex desire for presenting good sons; therefore Kandarpa is the representative of Krishna. Sometimes sex is engaged in only for sense gratification; such sex does not represent Krishna. But sex for the generation of good children is called Kandarpa and represents Krishna.
Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
Among the cows I am Kama dhenu (kamadhuk). Among the types of lust, I am lust for the purpose of producing offspring (prajanah).
Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:
10.26 – 10.29 Of trees I am Asvattha which is worthy of worship. Of celestial seers I am Narada. Kamadhuk is the divine cow. I am Kandarpa, the cause of progeny. Sarpas are single-headed snakes while Nagas are many-headed snakes. Aquatic creatures are known as Yadamsi. Of them I am Varuna. Of subdures, I am Yama, the son of the sun-god.
Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:
Of weapons Lord Krishna’s vibhuti or divine, transcendental opulence is the vajram or thunderbolt. Of the blessed cows, Lord Krishna’s vibhuti is the kamadhuk the wish fulfilling cows known as Surabhi which yields all desired wishes. Lord Krishna is kandarpa or the procreation potency for begetting progeny. But whatever passion be it great or small that is not used for progeny but instead is used only for enjoying the senses and bodily delights is not a part of His vibhuti and cannot be construed as so, having no connection to it. Of poisonous snakes His vibhuti is Vasuki who was used as rope to pull the boat containing all species of life during Lord Krishna’s incarnation known as Matsya and Vasuki was also used as a rope to rap around the Mandara mountain to churn the nectar for the demigods during Lord Krishna’s incarnation as Kurma.
Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:
Sri Madhvacharya did not comment on this sloka.
Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:
Among weapons Lord Krishna’s vibhuti or divine, transcendental opulence is the vajram or thunderbolt the weapon of Indra, chief of the celestial demigods. Among all cows His vibhuti is the Kamadhenu or Surabhi cows which fulfill all desires. His vibhuti is kandarpah or the passionate desire which results in procreation of progeny. His vibhuti is not connected in any way to the desire for sense gratification and bodily enjoyments.
Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:
10.28 Ayudhanam, among weapons; I am the vajram, thunderbolt, made of the bones of (the sage) Dadhici. Dhenunam, among milch cows; I am kama-dhuk, Kamadhenu, which was the yielder of all desires of (the sage) Vasistha; or it means a cow in general which gives milk at all times. I am Kandarpa, prajanah, the Progenitor, (the god) Kama (Cupid). Sarpanam, among serpents, among the various serpents, I am Vasuki, the kind of serpents.
Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:
10.19-42 Hanta te etc. upto jagat sthitah. I am the Soul etc. (verse 20) : By this [the Bhagavat] wards off the exclusion [of any being as different form Him]. Otherwise the sentences like ‘Of the immovable [I am] the the Himalayas’ (verse 25) etc., would amount to the exclusive statement that the Himalayan range is the Bhagavat and not any other one. In that case, the indiscriminateness of the Brahman is not established and hence the realisation of the Brahman would be a partial (or conditioned) one. For, the [present] text of exposition is intended for that seeker whose mind cannot contemplate on the all-pervasiveness [of the Brahman], but who [at the same time] is desirous of realising that [all-pervasiveness]. Hence, while concluding, [the Bhagavat] teaches the theory of duality-cumunity by saying ‘whatsoever being exists with the manifesting power’ etc., and then concludes the topic with the theory of absolute unity, as ‘Or what is the use of this elaboration;…..I remain pervading this [universe] by a single fraction [of Myself] This has been declared indeed [in the scriptures] as : ‘All beings constitute [only] His one-fourth; His [other] immortal three-forths are in the heaven.’ (Rgveda, X, xc, 3). Thus, all this and the prime cause of creatures, are nothing but the Bhagavat (Absolute). And hence, He Himself becomes the object of knowledge of all, but being comprehended with the different strange qualities.
Sanskrit Shloka Without Transliteration Marks:
ayudhanam aham vajram
dhenunam asmi kama-dhuk
prajanas casmi kandarpah
sarpanam asmi vasukih
Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:
āyudhānām — of all weapons; aham — I am; vajram — the thunderbolt; dhenūnām — of cows; asmi — I am; kāma-dhuk — the surabhi cow; prajanaḥ — the cause for begetting children; ca — and; asmi — I am; kandarpaḥ — Cupid; sarpāṇām — of serpents; asmi — I am; vāsukiḥ — Vāsuki.
