SLOGAM

Slogam 1
Slogam 2
Slogam 3
Slogam 4
Slogam 5
Slogam 6
Slogam 7
Slogam 8
Slogam 9
Slogam 10
Slogam 11
Slogam 12
Slogam 13
Slogam 14
Slogam 15
Slogam 16
Slogam 17
Slogam 18
Slogam 19
Slogam 20
Slogam 21
Slogam 22
Slogam 23
Slogam 24
Slogam 25
Slogam 26
Slogam 27
Slogam 28
Slogam 29
Slogam 30
Slogam 31
Slogam 32
Slogam 33
Slogam 34
Slogam 35
Slogam 36
Slogam 37
Slogam 38
Slogam 39
Slogam 40
Slogam 41
Slogam 42

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4.4

arjuna uvāca

aparaṁ bhavato janma

paraṁ janma vivasvataḥ

katham etad vijānīyāṁ

tvam ādau proktavān iti

Translation

Arjuna said: The sun-god Vivasvān is senior by birth to You. How am I to understand that in the beginning You instructed this science to him?

Author Name:-Sri Ramanuja

Purport

Sri Ramanuja

4.4 Arjuna said — According to the calculation of time, your birth was indeed later, contemporaneous with our births. And the birth of Vivasvan was at an earlier time, reckoned as twenty-eight cycles of units of four Yugas each. How can I understand as true that you taught it in the beginning? Now, there is no contradiction here, for it was quite possible that He had taught Vivasvan in a former birth. The memory of what was done in former births is quite natural for great men. This should not be taken to mean that Arjuna does not know the son of Vasudeva, the speaker, as the Lord of all. Because he (Arjuna) says later on: ‘You are the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Light and the Supreme Purifier. All the seers proclaim You as the eternal Divine Purusa, the Primal Lord, unborn and all-pervading. So also proclaim the divine sage Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa. You Yourself also are saying this to me’ (10.12-13.) Arjuna had heard repeatedly from Bhisma and others during the Rajasuya sacrifice of Yudhisthira, ‘Krsna alone is the cause of creation and submergence of all the worlds. This universe, consisting of things both animate and inanimate, was created for the sake of Krsna’ (Ma. Bha., 2.38.23) ‘The entire universe is subservient to Krsna’ is the meaning of ‘For the sake of Krnsa’. This apparent contradiction may be explained as follows: Arjuna surely knows the son of Vasudeva as the Bhagavan. Though knowing Him as such, he questions as if he did not know Him. This is his intention. Can the birth of the Lord of all, who is antagonistic to all that is evil and wholly auspicious, omniscient, whose will is always true and whose desires are fulfilled — can the birth of such a Person be of the same nature as that of the gods, men etc., who are subject to Karma? Or can it be false like the illusions of a magical show? Or could it be real? In other words, is the birth of the Supreme Being as the incarnate a real fact or a mere illusory phenomenon produced by a magician’s art? If His birth is real, what is the mode of His birth? What is the nature of His body? What is the manner of His birth? What is the nature of this body of His? What is the casue of His birth? To what end is He born? The way in which Sri Krsna answers Arjuna’s question, justifies the construing of his question in this way.

Author Name:-Sri Adi Shankaracharya

Purport

Sri Adi Shankaracharya

4.4 Bhavatah, Your; janma, was aparam, later, in the abode of Vasudeva; (whereas) the birth vivasvatah, of Visvasvan, the Sun; was param, earlier, in the beginning of creation. Therefore, katham, how; vijanyam, am I to understand; etat, this, as not inconsistent; iti, that; tvam, You, yourself; who proktavan, insturcted this Yoga; adau, in the beginning, are the same person who are now teaching me? By way of demolishing the doubt of fools with regard to Vasudeva, that He has no God-hood and omniscience-to which very purpose was Arjuna’s question-

Author Name:-Sri Madhvacharya

Purport

Sri Madhavacharya

This question is asked in relation to Lord Krishna’s earlier declaration in chapter III.XXX mayi sarvani karmani meaning to offer all activities to Him.

Now begins the summation.

The purpose of inquiry from men of wisdom as given in the Agni Purana has a dual purpose. First is reconfirmation of the knowledge of eternal principles that they already possess. Second is that their explanations offer additional clarification. In this same way these questions asked to Lord Krishna should be understood in this manner. One should be aware that Arjuna was not a novice bereft of Vedic knowledge, he had been to the heavenly planets and had received instuctions from his father Indra the chief of the celestials. He also had never broken his vows and was never defeated in battle. So he was not an ordinary being and was somewhat cognizant of Lord Krishna supreme position.

SLOGAM

CATEGORIES

Slogam 4

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4.4

Related to Veda :