I am the rite: the various forms of the rite enjoined by the Veda are Myself. I am the sacrifice ordained by the remembered texts. Further, I am 'svadhā', the food, that which is given to the ancestors. I am the herb, that which is eaten by all living beings, called by the word 'herb', the common rice, barley and the like. Or else 'svadhā' is the food common to all living beings, and 'herb' is the medicine that serves to allay disease. I am the mantra, that by which the oblation is given to the ancestors and the gods. I am the clarified butter and the oblation. I am the fire, the fire in which the oblation is offered. I am the offering, the act of offering. Further.

I am the rite; I am the Jyotishtoma and the other rites. I myself am the sacrifice, the great sacrifice. I myself am the svadha, the giver of nourishment to the host of fathers; and I myself am the herb and the oblation. And I myself am the mantra; I myself am the clarified butter. This is said by way of indication; the soma and the rest of the oblations too are I myself. This is the meaning. I am the fire, the Ahavaniya and the rest, and the offering too is I myself.

This is a brief sub-gloss. For a fuller reading of this verse, see Madhusūdana, Śaṅkara, or Rāmānuja above.

Krishna states the discernment He promised, with 'I am the rite' and so on. 'Rites' (kratu) are the Agnishtoma and the like. 'Sacrifice' is the giving up of a substance with a deity in view, as the lexicon has it, 'the giving up of substances with the gods in view is called sacrifice'.