In plain words
I am the pure fragrance in earth and the brilliance in fire; I am life in all beings and tapas in tapasvins.
Word for word
And the pure fragrance in earth, and the brilliance in fire I am; life in all beings, and tapas in tapasvins I am.
पुण्यो गन्धः पृथिव्यां च तेजश्चास्मि विभावसौजीवनं सर्वभूतेषु तपश्चास्मि तपस्विषु
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam· bhāṣya
पुण्यः सुरभिः गन्धः पृथिव्यां च अहम् , तस्मिन् मयि गन्धभूते पृथिवी प्रोता । पुण्यत्वं गन्धस्य स्वभावत एव पृथिव्यां दर्शितम् अबादिषु रसादेः पुण्यत्वोपलक्षणार्थम् । अपुण्यत्वं तु गन्धादीनाम् अविद्याधर्माद्यपेक्षं संसारिणां भूतविशेषसंसर्गनिमित्तं भवति । तेजश्च दीप्तिश्च अस्मि विभावसौ अग्नौ । तथा जीवनं सर्वभूतेषु, येन जीवन्ति सर्वाणि भूतानि तत् जीवनम् । तपश्च अस्मि तपस्विषु, तस्मिन् तपसि मयि तपस्विनः प्रोताः ॥ ९ ॥
In plain words
I am the pure fragrance that is the earth's own essence — the earth itself is strung on that one quality, on me. And notice: that purity belongs to fragrance by its very nature, and this one clear case is meant to show you that taste and the other qualities of the elements are just as inherently pure. Any impurity you notice in them comes only from ignorance, from some accidental contact with this or that substance — never from the quality itself. I am the brilliance, the blazing light, in fire. I am the life in every living being — that very thing by which they live, that is life, and that is me. And I am the austerity in those who practice it — every ascetic is strung on that one thread, on me.
Close to the Sanskrit
Pure, fragrant, fragrance in the earth, and I; in that, in me, which is the fragrance, the earth is woven. The purity of fragrance, by its own nature, is shown in the case of earth, for the purpose of indicating the purity of taste and the rest among water and the other elements too. But the impurity of fragrance and the rest is dependent on the properties of ignorance and the like of transmigrating beings, caused by contact with some particular material substance. Brilliance, blazing light, I am, in the wealth-bearing one, in fire. Likewise, life in all beings — by which all beings live, that is life. Austerity, I am, among ascetics; in that, in austerity, in me, ascetics are woven.