Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 5

Chapter 4 – Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

श्रीभगवानुवाच ।
बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन ।
तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप ॥

Transliteration

śrībhagavānuvāca .
bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna .
tānyahaṃ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṃ vettha parantapa ॥

Meaning

The Blessed Lord said: Many births of Mine have passed, and of yours too, O Arjuna. I know them all, but you do not, O scorcher of foes.

Word meanings

बहूनि – many
मे – of Mine
व्यतीतानि – have passed
जन्मानि – births
तव – of yours
च – and
अर्जुन – O Arjuna
तानि – them
अहम् – I
वेद – know
सर्वाणि – all
न – not
त्वम् – you
वेत्थ – know
परन्तप – O scorcher of foes

Anvaya (word order)

श्रीभगवान् उवाच — अर्जुन, मे तव च बहूनि जन्मानि व्यतीतानि । परन्तप, अहं तानि सर्वाणि वेद, त्वं न वेत्थ ।

Explanation

Krishna answers Arjuna's question not with a chronology but with a profound spiritual truth: ‘Many births of Mine have passed, and of yours too.’ Arjuna was looking only at this one lifetime, and so Krishna's birth seemed recent to him. The Lord lifts his gaze beyond the narrow frame of a single life and stretches it across endless time.

The verse brings out the fundamental difference between the individual soul and God. Both have had ‘births’, but the Lord knows them all, while Arjuna does not. Shankara explains that the knowledge of the individual is veiled by ignorance and by the impressions of merit and demerit, so he cannot remember his past lives; the Lord, being eternally pure, eternally awake and eternally free, has a power of knowledge that is never obscured.

It is worth noting, too, that the soul's births are driven by karma — it is born under compulsion. The Lord's ‘births’ are by His own will — He appears out of compassion. This distinction will be drawn more sharply in the verses that follow.

By calling him ‘Parantapa’ Krishna reminds Arjuna that he is a hero, yet even his heroism still lies under the veil of ignorance. The verse also confirms the teaching of Chapter 2 that the Self is beginningless and has passed through many bodies (2.12, 2.22).

Context

In 4.4 Arjuna asked how Krishna, born recently, could have taught the Sun at the beginning of time. Here Krishna begins His answer: both have had many births, but only He remembers them all. In the next verse (4.6) He explains how, though unborn, He comes to be born.

Life lesson

Our vision usually stops at the edge of this one life, so we fail to see the full meaning of events. Seeing life as an endless journey brings patience, humility and deeper trust in God.

Key terms

Punarjanma: rebirth; the soul taking body after body according to karma
Avidya: ignorance that veils the soul's true knowledge
Sarvajnata: omniscience; the all-knowing nature of God