BHAGAVAD-GITA 4:5

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 4:5

 

sri-bhagavan uvaca

bahuni me vyatitani

janmani tava carjuna

tany aham veda sarvani

na tvam vettha parantapa

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Personality of Godhead said; bahuni--many;

me--of Mine; vyatitani--have passed; janmani--births; tava--of yours;

ca--and also; arjuna--O Arjuna; tani--those; aham--I; veda--do know;

sarvani--all; na--not; tvam--you; vettha--know; parantapa--O subduer

of the enemy.

 

TRANSLATION

 

The Personality of Godhead said: Many, many births both you and I have

passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the

enemy!

 

PURPORT

 

In the Brahma-samhita (5.33) we have information of many, many

incarnations of the Lord. It is stated there:

 

advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam

adyam purana-purusam nava-yauvanam ca

vedesu durlabham adurlabham atma-bhaktau

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

 

"I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krsna], who is the

original person--absolute, infallible, without beginning. Although

expanded into unlimited forms, He is still the same original, the

oldest, and the person always appearing as a fresh youth. Such

eternal, blissful, all-knowing forms of the Lord are usually

understood by the best Vedic scholars, but they are always manifest to

pure, unalloyed devotees."

 

It is also stated in Brahma-samhita (5.39):

 

ramadi murtisu kala-niyamena tisthan

nanavataram akarod bhuvanesu kintu

krsnah svayam samabhavat paramah puman yo

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

 

"I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krsna], who is

always situated in various incarnations such as Rama, Nrsimha and many

subincarnations as well, but who is the original Personality of

Godhead known as Krsna, and who incarnates personally also."

 

In the Vedas also it is said that the Lord, although one without a

second, manifests Himself in innumerable forms. He is like the

vaidurya stone, which changes color yet still remains one. All those

multiforms are understood by the pure, unalloyed devotees, but not by

a simple study of the Vedas (vedesu durlabham adurlabham

atma-bhaktau). Devotees like Arjuna are constant companions of the

Lord, and whenever the Lord incarnates, the associate devotees also

incarnate in order to serve the Lord in different capacities. Arjuna

is one of these devotees, and in this verse it is understood that some

millions of years ago when Lord Krsna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to the

sun-god Vivasvan, Arjuna, in a different capacity, was also present.

But the difference between the Lord and Arjuna is that the Lord

remembered the incident whereas Arjuna could not remember. That is the

difference between the part-and-parcel living entity and the Supreme

Lord. Although Arjuna is addressed herein as the mighty hero who could

subdue the enemies, he is unable to recall what had happened in his

various past births. Therefore, a living entity, however great he may

be in the material estimation, can never equal the Supreme Lord.

Anyone who is a constant companion of the Lord is certainly a

liberated person, but he cannot be equal to the Lord. The Lord is

described in the Brahma-samhita as infallible (acyuta), which means

that He never forgets Himself, even though He is in material contact.

Therefore, the Lord and the living entity can never be equal in all

respects, even if the living entity is as liberated as Arjuna.

Although Arjuna is a devotee of the Lord, he sometimes forgets the

nature of the Lord, but by the divine grace a devotee can at once

understand the infallible condition of the Lord, whereas a nondevotee

or a demon cannot understand this transcendental nature. Consequently

these descriptions in the Gita cannot be understood by demonic brains.

Krsna remembered acts which were performed by Him millions of years

before, but Arjuna could not, despite the fact that both Krsna and

Arjuna are eternal in nature. We may also note herein that a living

entity forgets everything due to his change of body, but the Lord

remembers because He does not change His sac-cid-ananda body. He is

advaita, which means there is no distinction between His body and

Himself. Everything in relation to Him is spirit--whereas the

conditioned soul is different from his material body. And because the

Lord's body and self are identical, His position is always different

from that of the ordinary living entity, even when He descends to the

material platform. The demons cannot adjust themselves to this

transcendental nature of the Lord, which the Lord Himself explains in

the following verse.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.