रसोऽहमप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशिसूर्ययोः । प्रणवः सर्ववेदेषु शब्दः खे पौरुषं नृषु ॥
raso'hamapsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśisūryayoḥ | praṇavaḥ sarvavedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṃ nṛṣu ||
Translation
I am the taste of water, O son of Kunti; I am the light in the moon and sun; I am the sacred syllable Om in all the Vedas; I am the sound in ether and manhood in men.
Interpretation
Krishna now identifies himself with the essential qualities of phenomena — not the phenomena themselves, but what makes them what they are. The taste of water (rasa — the quintessence of water, without which water is just hydrogen and oxygen). The light in the sun and moon (what makes them sources of illumination). Om — the primordial vibration underlying all sacred sound. Sound in space — the very capacity for vibration in the medium of space. Manhood in men — the vital essence of human potential. These are the essences, the 'what-makes-it-what-it-is' of each thing.