BHAGAVAD GITA 15.15
sarvasya caham hridi sannivishto mattah smritir jnanam apohanam ca vedaish ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedanta-krid veda-vid eva caham
I am seated in the heart of all. From Me come memory, knowledge, and their removal. I alone am to be known by all the Vedas. I am the author of Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas.
The culminating verse of this sequence: the Divine is in the heart of every being, the source of memory, knowledge, and forgetting. All of the Vedas point to this one reality. Krishna is both the goal of knowledge and the one who knows.
The culminating verse of this sequence: the Divine is in the heart of every being, the source of memory, knowledge, and forgetting. All of the Vedas point to this one reality. Krishna is both the goal of knowledge and the one who knows.
Explore every verse of the Bhagavad Gita with Sanskrit audio and daily reflection.
The Most Personal Verse in Chapter 15
After describing the cosmic tree, the self-luminous abode, the pervasive energy in earth and fire, verse 15.15 brings the teaching home. The Divine is not only in the sun and in the soil. It is ‘sarvasya hrridi sannivishto’: seated in the heart of all. Not symbolically. Not as a distant presence. Seated, present, immediate, in the center of every being’s existence.
Memory, Knowledge, and Their Removal
‘Mattah smritir jnanam apohanam ca’: from Me come memory, knowledge, and their removal. This is a startling claim. Not just that knowledge comes from God, but that forgetting does too. The grace that reveals and the veil that conceals are both from the same source. This removes the sense that ignorance is some alien force opposing the Divine. Even the forgetting is part of the plan.
All Vedas Point to This
‘Vedaish ca sarvair aham eva vedyah’: by all the Vedas, I alone am to be known. The entire scriptural tradition, every hymn, every philosophical treatise, every ritual prescription, has one ultimate object of knowledge: the supreme Person. Scripture is not an end in itself. It is a finger pointing. Verse 15.15 says what it is pointing at.
I Am the Author and the Knower
‘Vedanta-krid veda-vid eva caham’: I am the author of Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas. The Divine wrote the scriptures and also knows them perfectly. This places Krishna in a unique position: not just the goal of knowledge but its source, its vehicle, and its completion. The one in your heart is the same one who gave you the scripture to find your way home.
Chapter 15 is the Gita’s heart. GitaPath guides you through every verse.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does ‘seated in the heart of all’ mean in BG 15.15?
It means the supreme consciousness is the innermost witness in every being: not the physical heart, but the center of awareness. The Divine is not absent from any creature; it is the very witness behind every experience.
Why does Krishna say memory and forgetting both come from Him?
Because all cognitive functions, including the veil of ignorance that causes forgetting, are expressions of the one divine power. This teaching removes the sense of spiritual struggle against an alien darkness. Even the forgetting is within divine will.
Is BG 15.15 the most important verse in Chapter 15?
Along with 15.6 and 15.18, it is one of the chapter’s three great peaks. Verse 15.15 is the most intimate: it locates the cosmic Divine in the immediate center of every living being.
What is Vedanta and why does Krishna call himself its author?
Vedanta refers to the Upanishads and the philosophical tradition that culminates in them. Krishna claiming authorship means the ultimate truth that Vedanta points to is his own nature. He is simultaneously the scripture, the goal, and the one who knows.
How does GitaPath help me find the divine in my own heart?
GitaPath’s daily reflections for Chapter 15 are structured as inquiries into the witnessing presence behind your own experience. Each verse is a pointer inward, toward the same heart Krishna describes in 15.15.
The Purushottama is the fullest vision of what is real. Let GitaPath help you recognize it.
