The first glory is within

ahamātmā guḍākeśa sarvabhūtāśayasthitaḥahamādiśca madhyaṃ ca bhūtānāmanta eva ca

I am the Self, Gudakesha, seated in the heart of every being. I am their beginning, their middle and their end.

What it means

Before naming a single star or mountain, Krishna starts here, inside. He is the atman, the true Self, in the heart of every creature. And he spans the whole arc of a life, from first breath to last. The list of glories begins not out there, but within.

The story

Gudakesha means conqueror of sleep, a name Arjuna earned through tireless discipline. Krishna uses it now, as if to say, stay awake for this. The first glory is closer than Arjuna's own breath.

In your life

On a packed train at rush hour, a man looks at the tired faces around him and remembers that each holds a whole inner world. Tomorrow, on your way somewhere, silently wish one stranger well.