Chapter 10 · Shloka 40— The Yoga of Divine Glories

nānto ’sti mama divyānāṁ vibhūtīnāṁ parantapa eṣha tūddeśhataḥ prokto vibhūter vistaro mayā

na

— not

antaḥ

— end

asti

— is

mama

— my

divyānām

— divine

vibhūtīnām

— manifestations

parantapa

— Arjun, the conqueror of the enemies

eṣhaḥ

— this

tu

— but

uddeśhataḥ

— just one portion

proktaḥ

— declared

vibhūteḥ

— of (my) glories

vistaraḥ

— the breath of the topic

mayā

— by me

"Nanto 'sti mama divyanam vibhutinam parantapa, esa tuddesatah prokto vibhuter vistaro maya." — There is no end to My divine glories, O scorcher of foes. What I have declared is but a brief indication of the extent of My glory. Krishna explicitly states what 10.19 anticipated and 10.39 implied: the list of glories he has given (10.20–38) is not exhaustive — it could never be. 'Na antah asti mama divyanam vibhutinam' — there is no end (anta) to My divine glories (divya vibhutis). The divine glories are literally infinite; no enumeration could ever complete them. 'Esa tu uddesatah proktah vibhuteh vistarah maya' — what I have declared (proktah) is only 'uddesatah,' by way of brief indication, a small sample (uddesa) of the extent (vistara) of My glory. Shankaracharya emphasizes the honest humility of this statement. Krishna, having given a rich list, immediately clarifies that it is merely indicative — a tiny representative sample pointing toward something infinite. The list was never meant to be a complete catalog (which is impossible) but a set of pointers to train recognition (10.19). This verse beautifully closes off any temptation to treat the list as a finished, bounded thing. The glories are endless; what was given is just a beginning, a few examples to get the recognition started. The infinite divine presence cannot be captured in any list, however long. The insight reinforces a humble and open-ended way of seeing: never mistake the examples you've been given for the whole of the reality they point to. The list of glories was a set of pointers, not a complete map — and the same is true of any genuine teaching about something infinite. The teaching gives you examples to train your eye; it doesn't (and couldn't) capture the whole. So hold the specific examples lightly, as doorways rather than boundaries, and stay open to recognizing the deeper reality endlessly, in ever-new ways the list never mentioned. The divine glory has no end — which means there's always more to recognize, always a fresh way to see the sacred you haven't seen yet. Stay open. The list is not the limit. There is always more.

Krishna explicitly closes off any temptation to treat his list as a finished, complete thing: 'there is no end to My divine glories; what I've declared is just a brief indication.' The list was always pointers, never a complete catalog (which would be impossible for something infinite). The insight reinforces a humble, open-ended way of seeing: never mistake the examples you've been given for the whole of the reality they point to. This applies to any genuine teaching about something vast: the teaching gives you examples to train your eye — it doesn't, and couldn't, capture the whole. So hold the specific examples lightly, as doorways rather than boundaries, and stay open to recognizing the deeper reality endlessly, in ever-new ways no list ever mentioned. This is the opposite of dogmatism. Dogmatism freezes the examples into a closed, complete system; genuine openness treats them as a beginning, knowing there's always more. The divine glory has no end — which means there's always more to recognize, always a fresh way to encounter the sacred you haven't seen yet. So stay curious, stay open, keep looking. Whatever you've understood so far is just the start. The reality is endless, and there's always more to discover. Don't close the book; the deepest things never run out.

Krishna explicitly closes off any temptation to treat his list as a finished, complete thing: 'there is no end to My divine glories; what I've declared is just a brief indication.' The list was always pointers, never a complete catalog (which would be impossible for something infinite). The insight reinforces a humble, open-ended way of seeing: never mistake the examples you've been given for the whole of the reality they point to. This applies to any genuine teaching about something vast: the teaching gives you examples to train your eye — it doesn't, and couldn't, capture the whole thing. So hold the specific examples lightly, as doorways rather than boundaries, and stay open to recognizing the deeper reality endlessly, in ever-new ways no list ever mentioned. This is the literal opposite of dogmatism. Dogmatism freezes the examples into a closed, complete system; genuine openness treats them as a beginning, knowing there's always more. The divine glory has no end — meaning there's always more to recognize, always a fresh way to encounter the sacred you haven't seen yet. So stay curious, stay open, keep looking. Whatever you've understood so far is just the start. The reality is endless, and there's always more to discover. Don't close the book — the deepest things never run out.

Krishna shares something important about all the examples He's given: 'There's NO END to My divine glories! What I've told you is just a tiny taste — a few examples!' He's reminding Arjuna that the list isn't complete — it could NEVER be complete, because God's glory is endless and infinite! The examples were just to help train Arjuna's eyes to recognize the sacred. This teaches us something wonderful: there's ALWAYS more to discover! No matter how much you learn or how many wonderful things you recognize, there's always more — endless more! So stay curious and keep your eyes open with wonder! You'll never run out of beautiful, amazing things to discover about the world and about God. The wonder never ends! Keep exploring, keep looking, keep being amazed — because the wonderful things are truly endless. There's always something new and beautiful waiting to be discovered!