15th Chapter of Gita-- 15th sloka

Hare Krishna,
In continuation with the earlier sloka, where the Lord says that he alone is present in the form of fire in the stomach, and he is the food that is taken and he alone digests the food. Thus is the cause of sustenance of human life. He explains this further in the below sloka.


15.15 – Sarvasya aham hridi sannivisto matah smrithi jyaana apohanam cha
Vedyah sarvaiah aham eva vedaih vedantha krit vedavit cha aham

Meaning of words:
Sarvasya – in all human being
Aham – me(the consciousness)
Hridi – in the heart
Sannivisto--- reside
Matah – from me
Smrithi – memory
Jyaana – intellect
Apohanam – loss of memory
Vedyah – the object to be known
Sarvaiah –through all
Vedaih – the Vedas
Aham eva – me
Vedanta- krit – the originator of Vedas
Veda-vit – one who knows Vedas
Aham – me

Meaning of sloka

I reside in the heart of all human beings. I am the reason for the memory, intellect or knowledge and loss of memory in them. I am the knowledge of all the Vedas. I am the originator of all the Vedas and I alone is the knower of the Vedas.

Lord Krishna says that he resides in the heart of all human beings. Here it doesn’t mean the physical location. It implies the substratum of all beings, the origination of life. If heart is present, life exists, Hence it’s the origination of life, hence he says he is present in the heart, but he is not confined to the heart, as we have seen in the earlier slokas , when Krishna says that he is the fire in the stomach, which digests the food.
He is responsible for the memory, knowledge and loss of memory in human beings. The knowledge and memory of creatures who perform good and bad deeds is from him. If he is not responsible for giving us the knowledge , we would be devoid of knowledge of Vedanta. If we weren’t given the power of memorizing things, We would forget what was taught in the Vedanta classes each day. If there wasn’t loss of memory , then the pain of loosing loved ones cannot be forgotten and life wouldn’t move forward. He is power behind the antah karana or the mind, intellect and loss of memory.
He is the essence or truth of all the Vedas. All the Vedas talk about him as the sat chit ananda roopa, of nature of bliss. From him the Vedas have come. He is the originator of Vedas. He alone is the knower of Vedas, means that the person who actually knows the Vedas is brahman alone. Because a person who knows the Vedas knows himself, his very nature and becomes ever established in brahman. Hence a person who knows Vedas knows him(the consciousness) or knows himself.


Hare Krishna

Thanks,
Aparna