Bhagavad Gita 4.4अर्जुन उवाच अपरं भवतो जन्म परं जन्म विवस्वतः।कथमेतद्विजानीयां त्वमादौ प्रोक्तवानिति ॥

arjuna uvācha aparaṁ bhavato janma paraṁ janma

vivasvataḥ katham etad vijānīyāṁ tvam ādau proktavān iti

Sanskrit recitation

4.3 4.5

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Wisdom that returns in every age · 4.1–4.15 · Teaching

Translation

Arjuna said, "Later was Thy birth, and prior to it was the birth of Vivasvan (the Sun); how am I to understand that Thou hast taught this Yoga from the beginning?"

Hindi translation

अर्जुन बोले - आपका जन्म तो अभीका है और सूर्यका जन्म बहुत पुराना है; अतः आपने ही सृष्टिके आदिमें सूर्यसे यह योग कहा था - यह बात मैं कैसे समझूँ?

Meaning

Thy birth took place later in the hourse of Vasudeva Vivasvan or Vivasvat (the Sun) was born earlier in the beginning of evolution. How am I to believe that Thou taughtest this Yoga in the beginning to Vivasvan, and that Thou, the selfsame person, hast now taught it to me I am not able to reconcile this. Be kind enought to enlighten me, O my Lord.

After Swami Sivananda

Wisdom that returns in every age· 4.1–4.15→

Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.

Word-by-word→

iti: thus
etat: this
tvam: you
janma: birth
param: prior
ādau: in the beginning
aparam: later
katham: how
bhavataḥ: your
proktavān: taught
vijānīyām: am I to understand
vivasvataḥ: Vivasvan, the sun-god
arjunaḥ uvācha: Arjun said

Bhagavad Gita 4.4अर्जुन उवाच अपरं भवतो जन्म परं जन्म विवस्वतः।कथमेतद्विजानीयां त्वमादौ प्रोक्तवानिति ॥

Translation

Hindi translation

Meaning

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