Bhagavad Gita 11.43
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 43 of 55 · Arjuna's Journey
पितासि लोकस्य चराचरस्य त्वमस्य पूज्यश्च गुरुर्गरीयान्। न त्वत्समोऽस्त्यभ्यधिकः कुतोऽन्यो लोकत्रयेऽप्यप्रतिमप्रभाव ॥
pitāsi lokasya carācarasya tvamasya pūjyaśca gururgarīyān| na tvatsamo'styabhyadhikaḥ kuto'nyo lokatraye'pyapratimaprabhāva ||
Father of all moving and unmoving, the Greatest Guru — none equal to You in all three worlds, O Incomparable One!
Word by word (3)
- pitāsi lokasya carācarasya
- — You are the Father of the world — of moving and unmoving things · Pitā = father (nominative of pitṛ = father; the masculine divine-parent role). Lokasya = of the world (genitive). Carasya = of the moving (gen. of cara = moving, animate); acarasya = of the unmoving (gen. of acara = non-moving, inanimate). Cara-acara = the complete binary of all existence: mobile + immobile = animals/humans + plants/rocks; animate + inanimate; the dynamic + the static. Together they = everything that exists. Pitā lokasya carācarasya = Father of all moving-and-unmoving = universal parenthood. Compare Ch.9.17's 'pitāham asya jagato mātā' (I am the father of this world, the mother) — V43 is Arjuna's recognition of what Krishna stated in Ch.9. The son has now seen the cosmic form and verified the claim.
- tvam asya pūjyaś ca gurur garīyān
- — You are the object of worship of this (world) and the Guru who is greater (than any guru) · Pūjyaḥ = worthy of worship (gerundive of √pūj = to honor, worship; pūjya = to be worshiped). Gurur garīyān = Guru greater (than all others) — garīyān = comparative of guru (heavy/great; garīyān = heavier/greater). Note: guru garīyān = grammatically 'guru' is itself a superlative word (great), and garīyān = even greater = a double superlative. The great-teacher who exceeds greatness. Shankaracharya's commentary: guru here = the teacher who teaches liberation; garīyān = greater even than all gurus. The Upaniṣadic chain: the student goes to a guru who sends them to a greater guru who reveals Brahman. V43 says Krishna IS the Brahman-guru at the end of all guru-chains.
- na tvat-samo'sty abhyadhikaḥ kuto'nyo lokatraye'py apratima-prabhāva
- — There is none equal to You; how can there be another superior in all three worlds, O You of incomparable power? · Na tvat-samaḥ asti = none equal to You (na = not; tvat-sama = equal to You; asti = exists). Abhyadhikaḥ = one who exceeds/is superior (abhi + adhika = above + more = surpassing). Kuto anyaḥ = how can there be another? (kuto = from where? = how possibly?). Lokatraye api = even in all three worlds (loka-traya = three worlds = sky/earth/underworld or brahmaloka/earthly-world/patāla). Apratima-prabhāva = O One of incomparable glory/power! (a + pratimā = without equal image; prabhāva = power, influence, glory). The double negation: not even equal (na sama) + certainly not superior (abhyadhikaḥ kuto = how could there even be a superior?). The rhetorical force: if even an equal is absent, a superior is logically impossible.
After the apology, Arjuna pivots to affirmation: You are the Father of everything, the most worthy of worship, the Greatest of all teachers. No one equals You in all three worlds — certainly no one surpasses You.
A modern analogy
Like stepping back from years of casual friendship with a mentor and finally saying: 'I didn't realize — you're not just my friend. You're the teacher of all teachers. I was seeing only one face of who you are.'
Sit with this: Here Krishna is called 'gurur garīyān' — the Guru who is greater than all gurus. What makes someone a true Guru? And if the universe itself is the greatest teacher — nature, experience, suffering, joy — how are you currently receiving its teaching?
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Thou art the Father of this world, moving and unmoving. Thou art to be adored by this (world), Thou the Greatest Guru; (for) Thy equal exists not; whence another, superior to Thee, in the three worlds, O Being of unequalled greatness? [1]
Thou art the Father of the world, moving and unmoving; the object of its worship; greater than the great. None there exists who is equal to Thee in the three worlds; who then can excel Thee, O Thou of power incomparable? [4]
For Thou art, now I know, Father of all below, Of all above, of all the worlds within — Guru of Gurus; more To reverence and adore Than all which is adorable and high! How, in the wide worlds three, Should any equal be? Should any other share Thy Majesty? [7]
Thou art the father of this universe of mobiles and immobiles. Thou art the great master deserving of worship. There is none equal to Thee. How can there be any one superior to Thee in the three worlds, O Thou of power incomparable? [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
I am the Father, Mother, Sustainer, Grandfather, Purifier, the knowable, OM — and the three Vedas.
Why should they not bow? Greater than Brahmā — You are the Infinite Imperishable, Being, Non-Being, the Supreme Beyond!
Approach the teacher with prostration, inquiry, and service. The knowers of truth will instruct you in jñāna.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
Verse 43 of 55 · back to Chapter 11