Bhagavad Gita 10.26
अश्वत्थः सर्ववृक्षाणां देवर्षीणां च नारदः | गन्धर्वाणां चित्ररथः सिद्धानां कपिलो मुनिः ||
aśvatthaḥ sarva-vṛkṣāṇāṁ devarṣīṇāṁ ca nāradaḥ | gandharvāṇāṁ citrarathaḥ siddhānāṁ kapilo muniḥ ||
Translation
Among all trees I am the aśvattha. Among divine seers, Nārada. Among the Gandharvas, Citraratha. Among the Siddhas, the sage Kapila.
Reflection
Across how many different colours can you spot the same one source?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Ten
Four more in a single verse. The ashvattha among all trees, Narada among divine seers, Citraratha among Gandharvas, Kapila among Siddhas. Each item is the recognised chief of its class. The ashvattha is the sacred fig, the tree of long-standing temple-yard worship. Narada is the wandering devotee-seer who moves between heavens. Citraratha is the chief among the celestial musicians. Kapila is the founder of the Sankhya teaching, named in the catalogue as the principal of the perfected ones. The reader who is keeping count notices the texture. Krishna has placed Himself among the trees the listener can walk by, among the seers he hears stories of, among the musicians he might never meet, and among the philosophers he has been studying. The catalogue is one continuous picture made of many different colours.