Text 7
kāntis tejaḥ prabhā sattā
candrāgny-arkarkṣa-vidyutām
yat sthairyaṁ bhū-bhṛtāṁ bhūmer
vṛttir gandho ’rthato bhavān
kāntiḥ — the attractive glow; tejaḥ — brilliance; prabhā — luminosity; sattā — and particular existence; candra — of the moon; agni — fire; arka — the sun; ṛkṣa — the stars; vidyutām — and lightning; yat — which; sthairyam — permanence; bhū-bhṛtām — of mountains; bhūmeḥ — of the earth; vṛttiḥ — the quality of sustaining; gandhaḥ — fragrance; arthataḥ — in truth; bhavān — Yourself.
The glow of the moon, the brilliance of fire, the radiance of the sun, the twinkling of the stars, the flash of lightning, the permanence of mountains and the aroma and sustaining power of the earth — all these are actually You.
Śrī Vasudeva, in telling Kṛṣṇa that He is the essence of the sun, moon, stars, lightning and fire, is only reiterating the opinion of scripture, both śruti and smṛti. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.14), for example, states:
na tatra sūryo bhāti na candra-tārakaṁ
nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto ’yam agniḥ
tam eva bhāntam anu bhāti sarvaṁ
tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṁ vibhāti
“There [in the spiritual sky] the sun does not shine, nor does the moon, the stars or lightning as we know them, what to speak of ordinary fire. It is by the reflection of the spiritual sky’s effulgence that everything else gives light, and thus through its radiance this entire universe becomes luminous.” And in Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā (15.12), the Supreme Lord says:
yad āditya-gataṁ tejo
jagad bhāsayate ’khilam
yac candramasi yac cāgnau
tat tejo viddhi māmakam
“The splendor of the sun, which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, comes from Me. And the splendor of the moon and the splendor of fire also come from Me.”