Chapter XI · Śloka 39
वायुर्यमोऽग्निर्वरुणः शशाङ्कः
प्रजापतिस्त्वं प्रपितामहश्च |
नमो नमस्तेऽस्तु सहस्रकृत्वः
पुनश्च भूयोऽपि नमो नमस्ते ||
प्रजापतिस्त्वं प्रपितामहश्च |
नमो नमस्तेऽस्तु सहस्रकृत्वः
पुनश्च भूयोऽपि नमो नमस्ते ||
vāyur yamo 'gnir varuṇaḥ śaśāṅkaḥ
prajāpatis tvaṃ prapitāmahaś ca |
namo namas te 'stu sahasra-kṛtvaḥ
punaś ca bhūyo 'pi namo namas te ||
prajāpatis tvaṃ prapitāmahaś ca |
namo namas te 'stu sahasra-kṛtvaḥ
punaś ca bhūyo 'pi namo namas te ||
You are Vāyu, Yama, Agni, Varuṇa, the moon, the Lord of creatures, and the great-grandfather. Salutations to You a thousand times, and again and again salutations to You.
The deities of the Vedic world — wind, death, fire, water, moon — are not beings separate from Krishna but faces of the one cosmic person. Arjuna salutes them all in a single bow, understanding for the first time what polytheism was pointing at.