Verse 7.8

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 7.8:

रसोऽहम् अप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशि-सूर्ययोः ।
प्रणवः सर्व-वेदेषु शब्दः खे पौरुषं नृषु ॥ ८ ॥

raso'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ |
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṃ nṛṣu || 8 ||

rasaḥ–the taste; aham–I; apsu–in water; kaunteya–O son of Kuntī; prabhā–the light; asmi–am; śaśi-sūryayoḥ–of the moon and sun; praṇavaḥ–the syllable oṃ; sarva-vedeṣu–in all Vedic mantras; śabdaḥ–the sound; khe–in ether; pauruṣam–ability; nṛṣu–in man.

O son of Kuntī, I am the taste in water, the radiance of the moon and the sun, and the syllable oṃ in all Vedic mantras. I am the sound in ether and the ability in man.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

“As Antaryāmī, the indwelling witness, I enter into and exist in this universe, which was created by Me. Similarly, I alone exist as the essence within all humans and all other living entities. Somewhere I am the cause and somewhere I am the effect.” In order to establish this truth, Śrī Bhagavān is speaking this verse beginning with raso’ham and the next three verses.

“The meaning of apsu (water) is that the rasa (taste) in water is its cause, which is also My opulence. Similarly, My effulgence is the cause of the sun and the moon, and oṃkāra is the cause of the Vedas. They are also My opulences. I am also the cause of the sky and sound, and I am the very essence of human beings and the source of their ability.”