Bhagavad Gita 10.42 Meaning: Athava bahunaitena kim jnatena

Bhagavad Gita 10.42

अथवा बहुनैतेन किं ज्ञातेन तवार्जुन ।विष्टभ्याहमिदं कृत्स्नमेकांशेन स्थितो जगत् ॥

Athava bahunaitena kim jnatena tavarjunaVishtabhyahamidam kritsnamekanshena sthito jagat

athavā bahunaitena kiṃ jñātena tavārjuna |viṣṭabhyāhamidaṃ kṛtsnamekāṃśena sthito jagat ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation Krishna closes the chapter. But what need is there for Arjuna to know all this in detail? Krishna says he stands supporting this whole world with a single portion of himself. The schools read 'a single portion' differently (see the views).

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण अध्याय पूरा करते हैं। पर अर्जुन को यह सब विस्तार से जानने की क्या आवश्यकता है? कृष्ण कहते हैं कि वे इस पूरे जगत को अपने एक अंश से धारण करके स्थित हैं। “एक अंश” को परंपराएँ अलग-अलग ढंग से समझती हैं।

Word by word

Every word, with its dictionary page

Word by word

अथवा athavā · or rather (indeclinable) Dictionary: atha-vā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 17, col. 3 “or; (when repeated) either or; or rather”
बहुना bahunā · (this) much (adjective (neuter), instrumental singular) Dictionary: bahu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 724, col. 2 “much, many, frequent, abundant, numerous”
एतेन etena · this (pronoun (neuter), instrumental singular) Dictionary: etad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 231, col. 2 “this, this here, here”
किम् kim · what (use) (interrogative pronoun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: kim, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 282, col. 2 “what? how? whence? wherefore? why?”
ज्ञातेन jñātena · by knowing (past participle (neuter), instrumental singular) Dictionary: jñāta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 425, col. 3 “known, ascertained, comprehended”
तव tava · for you (pronoun, genitive singular) Dictionary: yuṣmad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 855, col. 3 “the base of the 2nd pers. pron. as used in comp.”
अर्जुन arjuna · O Arjuna (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: arjuna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 90, col. 1
विष्टभ्य viṣṭabhya · supporting (absolutive (having done)) Dictionary: vi-ṣṭambh, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 998, col. 3 “to fix asunder, hold or keep apart, prop, fix, fasten, support”
अहम् aham · "I" (Krishna) (pronoun, nominative singular) Dictionary: aham, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 124, col. 2 “nom. sg. ‘I,’”
इदम् idam · this (pronoun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: 1. idam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 2 “this, this here, referring to something near the speaker”
कृत्स्नम् kṛtsnam · whole (adjective (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: kṛtsna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 304, col. 3 “all, whole, entire”
एकांशेन ekāṃśena · with a single portion (compound (masculine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: eka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 227, col. 3 “one”; aṃśa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1, col. 1 “a share, portion, part, party”
स्थितः sthitaḥ · stand, remain (past participle (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: sthita, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1264, col. 1 “standing, staying, situated, resting or abiding or remaining in”
जगत् jagat · world (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: jagat, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 408, col. 1 “the world, esp. this world, earth”

1 printing differs

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

The printed edition reads: अथवा वहुनैतेन किं ज्ञातेन तवार्जुन ।
विष्टभ्याहमिदं कृत्स्नमेकांशेन स्थितो जगत् ॥ The print reads वहुनैतेन, with व for ब; read as a wrong sort and corrected to बहुनैतेन ('with this much'), because बहु is the only reading that makes sense here and both proofreading references read बहुनैतेन.

Cf. Purusha-sûkta (Muir, Sanskrit Texts, vol. i, p. 9). ↩

Bhagavad Gita 10.42: meaning and translation

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