Bhagavad Gita 4.34: meaning and translation
Chapter 4: Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga. Krishna says
Krishna tells Arjuna how to gain this knowledge: by bowing down with respect (praṇipāta), by sincere questions, and by service.
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Bhagavad Gita 4.34
तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया ।उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनस्तत्त्वदर्शिनः ॥
Tadviddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevayaUpadekshyanti te jnanam jnaninastattvadarshinah
tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā |upadekṣyanti te jñānaṃ jñāninastattvadarśinaḥ ||
Our explanation Krishna tells Arjuna how to gain this knowledge: by bowing down with respect (praṇipāta), by sincere questions, and by service. The wise who have seen the truth will teach it. Here the Gita describes the bond between a student and a teacher (guru).
हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण अर्जुन को बताते हैं कि यह ज्ञान कैसे मिलता है: आदर से प्रणाम करके, सच्चे मन से प्रश्न पूछकर, और सेवा से। तत्त्व को देखने वाले ज्ञानी यह ज्ञान सिखाएँगे। यहाँ गीता शिष्य और गुरु के संबंध का वर्णन करती है।
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Word by word
- तत् tat · that (pronoun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
- विद्धि viddhi · know, learn (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 1. vid, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 963, col. 2 “to know, understand, perceive, learn”
- प्रणिपातेन praṇipātena · by bowing down (noun (masculine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: pra-ṇipāta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 660, col. 2 “falling at a person's feet, prostration”
- परिप्रश्नेन paripraśnena · by questioning (noun (masculine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: pari-praśna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 597, col. 3 “question, interrogation”
- सेवया sevayā · by service (noun (feminine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: sevā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1247, col. 1 “service, attendance on”
- उपदेक्ष्यन्ति upadekṣyanti · will teach (future, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 1. upa-diś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 199, col. 1 “to point out to ... to indicate, specify, explain, inform, instruct, teach”
- ते te · to you (pronoun, dative singular) Dictionary: 2. tva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 463, col. 2 “base of the 2nd personal pron.”
- ज्ञानम् jñānam · knowledge (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: jñāna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 426, col. 1 “knowing, becoming acquainted with, knowledge”
- ज्ञानिनः jñāninaḥ · the wise (noun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: jñānin, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 426, col. 2 “knowing, endowed with knowledge or intelligence, wise”
- तत्त्वदर्शिनः tattvadarśinaḥ · who have seen the truth (compound (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: tattva-darśin, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 433, col. 1
Old translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 62.
That1 you should learn by salutation, question, and service2. The men of knowledge who perceive the truth will teach knowledge to you.
Footnotes (the translator’s own) Compare 3 translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 62.
That1 you should learn by salutation, question, and service2. The men of knowledge who perceive the truth will teach knowledge to you.
Footnotes (the translator’s own) You are reading this one
Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 56.
Learn thou this by discipleship,1 by questionings, and by worship. The wise, the Seers of the Essence of things, will instruct thee in wisdom,
This sentence goes on in 4.35.
Footnotes (the translator’s own) - Literally, falling at the feet, i.e, the feet of the Teacher. ↩
You are reading this one
Swami Swarupananda, 1909 (first printed 1907). Public domain. Page 100.
Know that, by prostrating thyself, by questions, and by service; the wise, those who have realised the Truth, will instruct thee in that knowledge.
You are reading this one
Cite this verse
The translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 62. Bhagavad Gita 4.34.
The translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 56. Bhagavad Gita 4.34.
The translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 100. Bhagavad Gita 4.34.
Our explanation: “Bhagavad Gita 4.34: meaning and translation.” Pujadeep. Updated October 27, 2026. https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/4/34/
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Bhagavad Gita 4.34
तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया ।
उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनस्तत्त्वदर्शिनः ॥
“That you should learn by salutation, question, and service. The men of knowledge who perceive the truth will teach knowledge to you.”
(K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 62, public domain)
“Learn thou this by discipleship, by questionings, and by worship. The wise, the Seers of the Essence of things, will instruct thee in wisdom,”
(Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 56, public domain)
This sentence goes on in 4.35.
“Know that, by prostrating thyself, by questions, and by service; the wise, those who have realised the Truth, will instruct thee in that knowledge.”
(Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 100, public domain)
Sanskrit: G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922.
https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/4/34/ Nothing is sent from this site. Your own app sends it, to the chat you choose. The picture quotes the translation you chose on this page, with its name and year.
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. Source and changes
Questions families ask
Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 4.34?
Krishna speaks this verse, in chapter 4 (Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga).
Where does the Sanskrit text come from?
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. See the source
Is the meaning on this page a translation?
Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Source and licence
- Sanskrit text
- The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.
- Translation
- The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Common wording
- In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
- Our explanation
- Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the cited edition, October 15, 2026.
- Updated
- October 27, 2026