Bhagavad Gita 10.13
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 13 of 42 · Arjuna's Journey
आहुस्त्वामृषयः सर्वे देवर्षिर्नारदस्तथा | असितो देवलो व्यासः स्वयं चैव ब्रवीषि मे ||१३||
āhus tvām ṛṣayaḥ sarve devarṣir nāradas tathā | asito devalo vyāsaḥ svayaṃ caiva bravīṣi me || 13 ||
All the sages declare it — Nārada, Asita, Devala, Vyāsa — and You Yourself say it to me now.
Word by word (3)
- āhus tvām ṛṣayaḥ sarve devarṣir nāradas tathā asito devalaḥ vyāsaḥ
- — All the sages declare You thus — the divine seer Nārada, and Asita, Devala, Vyāsa · āhuḥ = they have said, they declare (perfect tense of √ah = to say; āhuḥ = 'they have said, they proclaim' — the perfect tense gives authority: not just 'they say' but 'it has been established by their saying'). tvām = You (accusative). ṛṣayaḥ sarve = all the sages (ṛṣi = seer, one who has seen — from √dṛś = to see; ṛṣayaḥ = 'the seers, the sages'; sarve = all). devarṣiḥ nāradaḥ = the divine seer Nārada (devarṣi = devarṣi = deva + ṛṣi = god-seer, the celestial sage — the title indicates Nārada's status between the human sage and the divine; nārada = nārada, the cosmic messenger-sage who moves between worlds). tathā = likewise (tathā = 'also, likewise, in the same way'). asitaḥ devalaḥ vyāsaḥ = Asita, Devala, Vyāsa (three named sages: Asita = 'the dark one'; Devala = 'one who belongs to the gods'; Vyāsa = 'the compiler' — the legendary compiler of the Vedas and author of the Mahabharata; the Mahabharata is the text containing the Gita, so naming Vyāsa here is self-referential: the Gita's author is cited as a witness to its teaching). The sage-witness list: (1) Nārada — the devarṣi who appears throughout the Puranas as the divine's messenger and whose transmission of devotional wisdom (bhakti) is celebrated in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa; (2) Asita — mentioned in several Puranas as a primordial sage; (3) Devala — a disciple of Asita; (4) Vyāsa — the compiler of the Vedas, the Mahabharata, and the Puranas — the tradition's supreme transmitter.
- svayaṃ caiva bravīṣi me
- — And You Yourself are saying it to me now · svayam = Yourself, by Yourself (reflexive pronoun — 'You Yourself, by Your own words'). ca = and. eva = indeed, also (emphatic). bravīṣi = You are saying (present tense of √brū = to speak; bravīṣi = second person singular = 'You are saying, You are telling'). me = to me (dative/genitive). svayaṃ caiva bravīṣi me — 'And You Yourself are telling me.' This closing phrase is architecturally crucial: Arjuna's confirmation has three sources: (1) sarve ṛṣayaḥ (all the sages — the tradition as witness); (2) specific named sages (Nārada, Asita, Devala, Vyāsa — named authorities); (3) svayam (You Yourself — the direct self-declaration of the divine). V13's epistemological framework: the triple witness (traditional teaching + named authorities + self-declaration) gives the highest possible confirmation. Compare how the Mahabharata's narrative tradition is validated: it comes through Vyāsa (named in V13 itself) → Vaiśampāyana → Sanjaya → the text. The Gita's own transmission chain is woven into V13's witness-list. The svayam (Yourself) is decisive: even if the sages were mistaken, the divine's own self-declaration (V1-V11 of Ch.10) is the highest validation.
- V13's epistemological structure — triple witness validation for the highest teaching
- — V13 establishes the Gita's teaching through three interlocking sources of authority: the traditional sages collectively, named specific authorities, and the divine's own self-declaration · V13's triple-witness (sarve ṛṣayaḥ + four named sages + svayam) maps onto Indian epistemology's three sources of valid knowledge (pramāṇa): (1) Anumāna (inference, reasoning) — all sages conclude through inference; (2) Āgama/Śabda (testimony, textual authority) — the named sages represent specific textual traditions; (3) Pratyakṣa (direct perception) — the divine's svayam bravīṣi me is the direct knowledge beyond inference and testimony. Arjuna uses all three simultaneously, with the third (svayam = direct self-declaration) as the final and decisive one. The naming of Vyāsa is particularly significant: Vyāsa is traditionally both the author of the Mahabharata (which contains the Gita) and a character within the Mahabharata (who transmitted the text to Vaiśampāyana). Naming Vyāsa within the Gita as a sage who declares Krishna's divinity is a self-referential gesture: the author is cited by his creation as a witness to the creation's teaching.
All the sages declare You so — the divine seer Nārada, and Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa; and now You Yourself tell me the same.
A modern analogy
A scientist discovers something new and says: 'Prior research has confirmed aspects of this; the named experts in the field have seen related evidence; and now, examining the phenomenon directly myself, I recognize it clearly.' This verse is this: traditional authority (all sages) + specific expert testimony (four named sages) + direct experience (svayam = You Yourself, which means Arjuna is DIRECTLY hearing this). The last is always the most convincing.
What it does NOT mean
This is not Arjuna saying 'I believe it because authorities say it.' The svayam caiva bravīṣi me (You Yourself are saying it to me) is the decisive point — the direct self-declaration outweighs any external authority. The sages provide confirmation for what Arjuna has directly recognized; they are witnesses to the recognition, not its cause.
Take with you
- This verse's Vyāsa self-reference is a teaching on tradition: the Gita names its own author (Vyāsa) as a witness within the Gita itself. This is not vanity but humility: even the compiler of the entire tradition (Vyāsa) is not the source of the teaching — he is a witness to what the divine has said. All tradition is witness, not source. The source is the divine's self-declaration (svayam).
- This verse is a model for integrating received knowledge and direct experience: spiritual life requires both tradition (sarve ṛṣayaḥ — the wisdom of those who came before) AND direct encounter (svayam bravīṣi me — direct knowing). It shows how Arjuna holds both: he doesn't reject tradition (names the sages specifically) and he doesn't reduce his recognition to tradition alone (adds svayam). True understanding combines both.
- This verse's named sages are teachers worth exploring: Nārada's bhakti wisdom (Nārada Bhakti Sūtra), Vyāsa's comprehensive synthesis (the Mahabharata, Puranas, Brahma Sūtra). Following this sage-list as a reading guide is itself a Gita practice: what did each named witness see?
Public-domain translations (2) compare all →
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Approach the teacher with prostration, inquiry, and service. The knowers of truth will instruct you in jñāna.
Who truly knows My vibhūtis and yoga-power becomes united in unshakeable yoga — of this there is no doubt.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
I am the ātman, O Guḍākeśa, seated in the heart of all beings — their beginning, middle, and end.
But why such detail, O Arjuna? With a single fragment of Myself I establish and uphold this entire universe.
I am in every heart — source of memory, knowledge, and forgetting; all Vedas point to Me, their author and knower.
Verse 13 of 42 · back to Chapter 10