Bhagavad Gita 10.29
अनन्तश्चास्मि नागानां वरुणो यादसामहम् | पितॄणामर्यमा चास्मि यमः संयमतामहम् ||
anantaś cāsmi nāgānāṁ varuṇo yādasām aham | pitṝṇām aryamā cāsmi yamaḥ saṁyamatām aham ||
Translation
Among the Nāgas I am Ananta. Among water-beings, Varuṇa. Among the ancestors, Aryaman. Among controllers, Yama.
Reflection
What feared figure might also be a face of the source you trust?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Ten
Four more. Ananta among the Nagas, Varuna among the water-beings, Aryaman among the ancestors, Yama among controllers. The verse extends the list across regions of the cosmos the listener will not visit in ordinary life. Ananta is the endless serpent on whom Vishnu reclines. Varuna is the deity who holds the law of the waters. Aryaman is the chief of the pitris, the line of departed ancestors. Yama is named as samyamatam aham, the chief of those who restrain or control. Yama's office is not only over death; he is the principle of inward restraint as well. The verse closes by giving Krishna a face the listener has been taught to fear and asking him to recognise the source there as well. Yama is not outside the catalogue; he is one of its forms.