Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 38
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 11 श्लोक 38

त्वमादिदेवः पुरुषः पुराण
स्त्वमस्य विश्वस्य परं निधानम्।
वेत्तासि वेद्यं च परं च धाम
त्वया ततं विश्वमनन्तरूप।।11.38।।



English Translation - Swami Sivananda
11.38 Thou art the primal God, the ancient Purusha, the supreme refuge of this universe, the knower, the knowable and the supreme Abode. By Thee is the universe pervaded, O Being of infinite forms.


English Commentary  - Swami Sivananda
11.38 त्वम् Thou? आदिदेवः the primal God? पुरुषः Purusha? पुराणः the ancient? त्वम् Thou? अस्य of (this)? विश्वस्य of Universe? परम् the Supreme? निधानम् Refuge? वेत्ता Knower? असि (Thou) art? वेद्यम् to be known? च and? परम् the Supreme? च and? धाम abode? त्वया by Thee? ततम् is pervaded? विश्वम् the Universe? अनन्तरूप O Being of infinite forms.Commentary Primal God? because the Lord is the creator of the universe.Purusha? because the Lord lies in the body (Puri Sayanat).Nidhaanam That in which the world rests during the great deluge or cosmic dissolution.The pot comes out of the clay and gets merged in clay. Even so the world has come out of the Lord and gets dissolved or involved in the Lord. So the Lord is the material cause of the world. Therefore? He is the primal God and the supreme refuge also.Vetta Knower of the knowable things. As the Lord is omniscient? He knows all about the world? and He is the instrumental or the efficient cause of this world.Param Dhama Supreme Abode of Vishnu. Just as the rope (the substratum for the superimposed snake) pervades the snake? so also Brahman or Vishnu through His Nature as ExistenceKnowledgeBliss Absolute pervades the whole universe.Moreover --


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 11.38Twamaadidevah purushah puraanasTwamasya vishwasya param nidhaanam;
Vettaasi vedyam cha param cha dhaamaTwayaa tatam vishwamanantaroopa.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 11.38tvam—you; ādi-devaḥ—the original Divine God; puruṣhaḥ—personality; purāṇaḥ—primeval; tvam—you; asya—of (this); viśhwasya—universe; param—Supreme; nidhānam—resting place; vettā—the knower; asi—you are; vedyam—the object of knowledge; cha—and; param—Supreme; cha—and; dhāma—Abode; tvayā—by you; tatam—pervaded; viśhwam—the universe; ananta-rūpa—posessor of infinite forms