I am kratu, I am yajna, I am svadha, I am aushadha, I am the mantra, I am the article of oblation, I am the fire and I am the act of offering. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 Verse 16)
I am the Father of the universe, the Mother, the Sustainer, the Grandsire, the One to be known, the Purifier, the syllable Om, the rk, the sama and the yaju. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 Verse 17)
The meaning is that Bhagavan is everything connected with religious offerings, kratu, a particular Vedic rite; yajna, the worship enjoined in the smritis; svadha, the food offered to the ancestors; aushadha, all vegetable food and medicinal herbs; mantra, the chant with which oblation is offered or any text by repeating and meditating on which one is purified; the article of oblation; the fire into which the offering is poured; and the oblation itself.
God is the Father of the universe and He is also the Mother. He is Purusha and also Prakriti. Purusha and Prakriti, as we have seen, are the two aspects of God. We cannot think of the one without the other. They are both necessary for the production of the universe. The one is powerless without the other. It is only through this dual aspect of God that creation becomes possible. The two must be in conjunction to produce the phenomenal universe. Purusha is called the Father and Prakriti, the Mother. God is both our Father and Mother. And there is a beautiful verse where God is regarded not only as Father and Mother, but also as Friend and Companion and the devotee’s greatest Treasure. ‘Thou art our Father. Thou art our Mother. Thou art our Friend. Thou art our Companion. Thou art our Learning. Thou art our Wealth. Thou art our All in all, our only Lord.’
He is the Sustainer for He dispenses the fruit of actions. He is the Grandsire, that is, in whom the distinction of subject and object does not exist. He is the One whom the sages desire to know; the Purifier, clearing our mind from ignorance; the Om, the word-symbol of God; and the different branches of the Vedas — all is He.