Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 75

Chapter 18 – Moksha Sanyasa Yoga · Speaker: Sanjaya

Sanskrit verse

व्यासप्रसादाच्छ्रुतवानेतद्गुह्यमहं परम् ।
योगं योगेश्वरात्कृष्णात्साक्षात्कथयतः स्वयम् ॥

Transliteration

vyāsaprasādācchrutavānetadguhyamahaṃ param .
yogaṃ yogeśvarātkṛṣṇātsākṣātkathayataḥ svayam ॥

Meaning

By the grace of Vyasa I have heard this supreme and secret yoga directly from Krishna, the Lord of yoga, as he himself declared it.

Word meanings

व्यासप्रसादात् – by the grace of Vyasa
श्रुतवान् – have heard
एतत् – this
गुह्यम् – secret
अहम् – I
परम् – supreme
योगम् – yoga
योगेश्वरात् – from the Lord of yoga
कृष्णात् – from Krishna
साक्षात् – directly
कथयतः – speaking
स्वयम् – himself

Anvaya (word order)

अहं व्यासप्रसादात् एतत् परं गुह्यं योगं साक्षात् स्वयं कथयतः योगेश्वरात् कृष्णात् श्रुतवान् ।

Explanation

Sanjaya explains here how he heard this dialogue at Kurukshetra while sitting in Hastinapura. According to the Mahabharata, before the war the sage Veda Vyasa offered Dhritarashtra divine sight so that he could watch the battle. Dhritarashtra declined to witness the destruction of his own clan, and so Vyasa granted that divine vision to Sanjaya, enabling him to see and hear everything from afar — even to know the thoughts in people's minds.

Vyasa-prasadat — by the grace of Vyasa. Sanjaya humbly acknowledges that this good fortune came not by his own merit but by the grace of a teacher. In Indian tradition Vyasa is regarded as the primordial guru, who arranged the Vedas and composed the Mahabharata and the Puranas. Guru Purnima is also called Vyasa Purnima. Sanjaya's words are a beautiful example of the importance of the guru's grace.

Sakshat kathayatah svayam — as he himself directly declared it. Sanjaya stresses that he heard this teaching not as hearsay but directly from the lips of Krishna. This is testimony to the authenticity of the Gita.

Here the Gita is called yoga — param guhyam yogam, the supreme secret yoga — and Krishna is called Yogeshvara, Lord of all yogas. This is because the Gita harmonises all the yogas: karma yoga, jnana yoga, dhyana yoga and bhakti yoga. That is why the colophon of every chapter calls the Gita yoga-shastra, the scripture of yoga.

Context

In the previous verse Sanjaya called the dialogue wondrous and thrilling. This verse explains that he heard it directly by Vyasa's grace. In the next verse (18.76) Sanjaya says that as he recalls the dialogue again and again, he rejoices again and again.

Life lesson

Behind every great knowledge and opportunity in life lies the grace of teachers and well-wishers — remain grateful for it. Knowledge learned from an authentic source is the most valuable. Being an instrument in spreading wisdom is itself a blessing.

Key terms

Vyasa-prasada: The grace of the sage Veda Vyasa
Yogeshvara: Lord of all yogas — Krishna
Param guhyam yogam: The supreme secret yoga — the teaching of the Gita
Sakshat: Directly, in person
Divya drishti: Divine sight, the power to see distant events, granted by Vyasa to Sanjaya