Bhagavad Gita 10.18
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 18 of 42 · Arjuna's Journey
विस्तरेणात्मनो योगं विभूतिं च जनार्दन | भूयः कथय तृप्तिर्हि श्रृण्वतो नास्ति मेऽमृतम् ||१८||
vistareṇātmano yogaṃ vibhūtiṃ ca janārdana | bhūyaḥ kathaya tṛptir hi śṛṇvato nāsti me'mṛtam || 18 ||
Tell me again in full of Your yoga and vibhūtis, O Janārdana — I am never sated hearing Your nectar-speech.
Word by word (3)
- vistareṇa ātmano yogaṃ vibhūtiṃ ca janārdana bhūyaḥ kathaya
- — Tell me again in detail, O Janārdana, of Your yoga and vibhūtis · vistareṇa = in detail, at length (instrumental of vistara = expansion, elaboration — from vi + √stṛ = to spread out; vistareṇa = 'in an expanded way, with full elaboration, in detail'). ātmanaḥ = Your own, of the Self (genitive of ātman = Self; ātmanaḥ = 'of Your own Self, Your'). yogaṃ = yoga-power (here: the divine's creative/sustaining power; the yoga of the divine that produces creation and sustains it — V10.7's yogaṃ ca mama). vibhūtiṃ = vibhūti (accusative singular — the divine manifestations). ca = and. janārdana = O Janārdana (vocative — janā = people/beings + ardana = one who stirs/invokes/beseeches; janārdana = 'the one whom all people pray to / who stirs people toward God' — SW commentary: 'to whom all pray for prosperity'). bhūyaḥ = again, further, more (adverb — 'once more, again, yet further'). kathaya = tell, speak (imperative of √kath = to narrate, to speak; kathaya = 'tell! narrate! speak!'). bhūyaḥ kathaya = 'tell me again' — not because Arjuna hasn't heard but because the hearing itself is delightful and he wants more. V18's bhūyaḥ (again) connects to V10.1's bhūyaḥ eva (again) — the chapter opened with Krishna saying 'hear Me again'; now Arjuna requests the same: 'tell me again in detail.'
- tṛptir hi śṛṇvato nāsti me amṛtam
- — I am never satiated hearing Your nectar-like speech · tṛptiḥ = satiation, contentment, fullness (from √tṛp = to be satisfied; tṛpti = 'satisfaction, satiation, contentment'). hi = indeed, for (particle — 'for, because, truly'). śṛṇvataḥ = of (me) hearing (genitive present participle of √śru = to hear; śṛṇvataḥ = 'of one who is hearing, of the hearer'). na asti = there is not. me = my, of me (genitive). amṛtam = nectar (a = not; mṛta = death; amṛta = 'deathless, nectar of immortality' — ambrosia). tṛptir hi śṛṇvato nāsti me'mṛtam = 'I am not satiated hearing Your nectar' / 'there is no satiation for me in hearing Your immortal (speech).' The amṛtam (nectar/immortality) metaphor: Krishna's words are amṛta — the nectar of immortality that the gods obtained from the cosmic ocean-churning. Hearing these words is like drinking amṛta: it satisfies at one level (the hearing is blissful) but the thirst returns because the nectar is inexhaustible. This is the highest bhakti quality: the devotee never tires of the beloved's words. Compare to V2.70's ocean analogy: the brahma-vit is like the ocean that takes in all rivers without being filled — V18's Arjuna is the inverse: he takes in all of Krishna's words without being filled either, because the source is inexhaustible.
- amṛtam — nectar and immortality: why Krishna's words are amṛta
- — V18's amṛtam (nectar/immortality) names why hearing the vibhūti teaching produces inexhaustible satisfaction — the teaching connects to the divine's own inexhaustibility (V10.19's na anto vistarasya me) · The amṛta (nectar/immortality) metaphor in V18 connects to V9.20's soma-pāḥ (soma-drinkers who seek heaven) and their ā-tṛpti (temporary satisfaction). Arjuna's tṛptir nāsti (never satiated) is the devotional opposite of soma-thirst: the soma-drinker is temporarily satisfied and returns to thirst (V9.21's ā-āvṛtti — they return); the devotee hearing amṛtam is inexhaustibly satisfied precisely because the source is inexhaustible. V18's inexhaustibility connects to V10.19's na anto vistarasya me (there is no end to My extent) — the teaching that cannot be exhausted mirrors the divine presence that cannot be exhausted. The three Arjuna verses (V16-V18) thus give three qualities of the ideal receiver of the vibhūti teaching: (1) V16: asks completely (aśeṣeṇa); (2) V17: asks practically (for meditation method); (3) V18: asks from devotional delight (never satiated). All three together describe the ideal student-devotee: comprehensive, practical, and joyfully devoted.
Tell me again, in full, of Your power and Your glories, O Janārdana; for I am never sated hearing Your nectar-like words.
A modern analogy
A music lover who has heard a Beethoven symphony 50 times asks to hear it again — not because they failed to understand it but because the hearing itself is inexhaustibly satisfying. This verse's tṛptir nāsti (never satiated) is this relationship to the divine teaching. The devotee's spiritual practice is not a task to be completed (then satiation comes) but an inexhaustible delight in the presence of the divine's wisdom.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's bhūyaḥ kathaya (tell me again) is not repetition-seeking out of failure to understand. Arjuna has already understood — his earlier praise, naming the divine as supreme abode, eternal and unborn, and known fully only by Himself, shows this. He asks again from the bhakti (loving devotion) of inexhaustible love for the teaching — the way a devotee sings a bhajan (devotional song) again and again not from failing to learn it but from never tiring of the bliss of singing it. This is the quality of the highest devotion: inexhaustible delight in the beloved's words.
Take with you
- This verse's tṛptir nāsti me'mṛtam (I am never satiated hearing the nectar) is the test of genuine spiritual engagement: does your spiritual practice feel like amṛta (nectar, inexhaustibly nourishing) or like a task to be completed (seeking tṛpti, eventual satiation or completion)? This verse suggests that genuine engagement with the divine's teaching produces the first quality — if practice feels like obligation-completion, it may need to be reinvested with the loving devotion the chapter praised earlier, when it said the wise worship the divine, the origin of all, with love.
- This verse's bhūyaḥ (again) is a model for how to read the Gita: read it again. And again. Not because you forgot but because each reading reveals new vibhūtis (divine glories). The Gita is amṛtam (nectar) — its inexhaustibility is not a problem but a gift. Arjuna asking bhūyaḥ kathaya (tell me again) normalizes the devotee's return to the same teachings with inexhaustible attention.
- Arjuna's three requests — to declare the attributes fully, to learn how to meditate and in what forms, and now to hear of the yoga and glories again from sheer delight — together form a model for approaching spiritual teachings: (1) ask completely; (2) ask practically; (3) approach with inexhaustible delight. If one of the three is missing, investigate: Is something held back (not aśeṣeṇa, without remainder)? Is practical application being avoided? Is the joy of the teaching absent?
Public-domain translations (2) compare all →
Speak to me again in detail, O Janardana, of Thy Yoga-powers and attributes; for I am never satiated in hearing the ambrosia (of Thy speech). [4]
Ah! yet again recount, / Clear and complete, Thy great appearances, / The secrets of Thy Majesty and Might, / Thou High Delight of Men! Never enough / Can mine ears drink the Amrit of such words! [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Again, O mighty-armed — hear My supreme word: I speak it to you who love Me, out of desire for your welfare.
Vedic ritualists drink soma, seek heaven — purified of sin, they attain Indra's realm and enjoy celestial pleasures.
Your natural eyes cannot see Me — I give you the divine eye; behold My supreme Yoga-power.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
Whatever you do, eat, offer, give, or practise as austerity — do it all as mad-arpaṇam, an offering to Me.
I am the origin of all; from Me all evolves — knowing this, the wise worship Me with loving devotion.
Verse 18 of 42 · back to Chapter 10