SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
SlOkam – Original
sa EvAyam mayA thE’dhya yOga: prOktha: purAthana: |
bhakthO’si mE sakhA chEthi rahasyam hyEthadh uththamam ||
word-by-word meaning
purAthana: – ancient
sa: Eva ayam yOga: – this karma yOga (which was preserved through this succession of teachers)
mE – for me
bhaktha: – devotee
sakhA – friend
asi – being
ithi – due to
thE – for you (who is a prapanna (surrendered person))
adhya – today
mayA – by me
prOktha: – taught in detail
Ethath – this
uththamam rahasyam hi – confidential knowledge related to vEdhAntha, which is the best
Simple Translation
Due to your being my devotee and friend, this ancient karma yOga which is the best and confidential knowledge related to vEdhAntha, was taught to you in detail by me today.
Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam
‘This self-same ancient Yoga is what is now propounded by Me to you, —mysterious and best—, as you are My devotee, My friend.’
You should not suppose: ‘The Yoga, You have expounded, is but a persuasive speech intended to induce me to fight’; for I expounded it Myself to Vivasvān (the Sun), is the Method by which to obtain moksha —the sublime ambition of man—, a Measure designed for the salvation of the whole Universe. Vivasvān to Manu, Manu to Ikshvāku, and so on successively transmitted, the Royal Saints came to learn it. But with (long lapse of) time, and owing to the dull understanding of men, the Yoga well nigh became forgotten. That very same Yoga, pure, entire and in all detail, is what is revealed to you by Me, now; because you bear Me friendship, and have, in all loving devotion, sought Me as your sole Asylum. No one, save Myself, is able to understand or to preach (to others) this Yoga inasmuch as it is the Sublime Wisdom, the Mystery of the Vedāntas[1. Lit: The Ends of the Vedas teaching spiritual knowledge.].
In the course of this dialogue, Arjuna, with the object of accurately knowing the nature of Divine Incarnations, asks:—
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