4.5 bahUni mE vyathIthAni

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SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Chapter 4

<< Chapter 4 verse 4

SlOkam – Original

SrI bhagavAn uvAcha
bahUni mE vyathIthAni janmAni thava chArjuna |
thAnyaham vEdha sarvANi na thvam vEththa paranthapa ||

word-by-word meaning

SrI bhagavAn uvAcha – Sri krishNa replied
hE arjuna – Oh arjuna!
thava cha – like you
mE – for me too
bahUni – countless
janmAni – births
vyathIthAni – have passed;
hE paranthapa – Oh tormentor of enemies!
thAni sarvANi – all of them (your births and my births)
aham – I
vEdha – know:
thvam – you
na vEththa – don’t know (them).

Simple Translation

Sri krishNa replied, Oh arjuna! Countless births have passed for me too like you. Oh tormentor of enemies! I know all of those births (of both mine and yours) and you don’t know them.

Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam

Śrī Bhagavān (Lord Kṛishṇa) replied:-

‘Many births have passed for Me; for you also, Arjuna! I remember them all, but not you Parantapa!’

This statement: ‘Many births have passed for Me’ is an affirmation of the reality of Incarnations, (and therefore it is no illusion or magic). The example (or analogy) of Arjuna intended by the phrase, ‘tavacha‘ (for you also), is as a proof of that reality. (That is to say, My Incarnation now is as real as your present birth is real, and so the past Incarnations of both of us are real).

The manner the Avatāras take place, the essential nature of the bodies assumed, and the purpose fulfilled by the Avatāras are now explained:—

>> Chapter 4 verse 6

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