Bhagavad Gita 13.5
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 5 of 34
ऋषिभिर्बहुधा गीतं छन्दोभिर्विविधैः पृथक्।ब्रह्मसूत्रपदैश्चैव हेतुमद्भिर्विनिश्िचतैः ॥
ṛṣibhirbahudhā gītaṃ chandobhirvividhaiḥ pṛthak|brahmasūtrapadaiścaiva hetumadbhirviniśicataiḥ ||
This has been sung by the rishis in many hymns, distinctly — and in brahma-sūtra passages, with clear reasoning!
Word by word (3)
- ṛṣibhir bahudhā gītaṃ chandobhir vividhaiḥ pṛthak
- — This has been sung by the rishis in many ways, distinctly, in various chants/meters · ṛṣibhiḥ = by the rishis (instrumental plural of ṛṣi = the seers, the sages; from √dṛś = to see; ṛṣi = one who sees/perceives the truth directly; the Vedic seers who 'heard' the mantras = mantra-draṣṭā = those who saw the mantras, not composed them). bahudhā = in many ways (bahu = many; dhā = ways/modes; bahudhā = multi-directionally). gītam = sung (past participle of √gai = to sing; gīta = that which is sung; the Bhagavad GITA's own name means 'the sung one'; here: the truth of kṣetra-kṣetrajña has been gīta = sung/chanted by ṛṣis in the Upanishadic tradition). chandobhiḥ = in hymns/meters (instrumental plural of chandas = Vedic meters; chandas = both the metrical form of Vedic hymns AND the hymns themselves = Vedic verses). vividhaiḥ = various, diverse (vi + vidha = of many kinds; vividha = multi-form; the teaching has come in many poetic forms). pṛthak = distinctly, separately, each in its own way (from pṛthak = apart, separately; the ṛṣis each sang it in their own distinctive way, not all the same formulation).
- brahma-sūtra-padaiś caiva hetumadbhir viniścitaiḥ
- — And also in the brahma-sūtra passages, with clear reasoning and definitive conclusions · brahma-sūtra-padaiḥ = in the brahma-sūtra passages (brahma = Brahman; sūtra = thread, aphorism; pada = passage, word, step; brahma-sūtra-pada = the passage-words of the Brahma-Sūtras; this is one of the Gita's only direct references to the Brahma Sūtras = Vedānta Sūtras = the systematic philosophical treatise on Vedanta composed by Bādarāyaṇa; the Brahma Sūtras together with the Upanishads and the Gita form the prasthāna-trayī = the triple foundation of Vedanta). ca eva = and also (connective + emphatic; the brahma-sūtra passages are named alongside the Vedic hymns as another source of this teaching). hetumadbhiḥ = with reasoning, with logic (hetu = reason, cause, logical ground; hetumad = having reason/logic; hetumadbhiḥ = furnished with/using reasoning; the brahma-sūtra passages are NOT just tradition — they are reasoned arguments). viniścitaiḥ = with definitive conclusions (vi + niścita = completely + settled; viniścita = definitively established, beyond doubt; the brahma-sūtras are not tentative — they are settled, conclusive).
- brahma-sūtra-pada (zoomed)
- — passages of the Brahma Sūtras — the systematic Vedanta philosophy · This term is significant for multiple reasons. First, it confirms that the Gita was aware of and aligned with the brahma-sūtra tradition (Bādarāyaṇa's systematization of Upanishadic teaching). Second, it places the Gita's teaching within the broader prasthāna-trayī (triple canonical foundation of Vedanta): Upanishads (śruti-prasthāna), Bhagavad Gita (smṛti-prasthāna), Brahma Sūtras (nyāya-prasthāna = the logical path). Third, hetumadbhiḥ viniścitaiḥ signals that this teaching is not merely devotional or mythological but philosophically rigorous — grounded in reasoning (hetu) and settled with decisive conclusions (viniścita). The Gita is saying: this knowledge of kṣetra-kṣetrajña has the full authority of the Vedic tradition, the Upanishadic seers, AND systematic Vedanta philosophy.
This has been sung by the sages in many ways, in various sacred hymns, and in the well-reasoned, conclusive verses on Brahman.
A modern analogy
Like a professor who says: 'This has been studied by countless researchers, published across many journals, and is also summarized in the standard textbook with proofs.' The teaching has both traditional depth and systematic logical grounding. That's the dual authority this verse invokes — the seers' hymns and the reasoned brahma-sūtra passages.
Sit with this: This verse invokes both Vedic seers (intuitive/revelatory tradition) AND brahma-sūtra (logical/systematic tradition) as authorities. Do you think spiritual truth needs both — direct experience AND logical grounding? Can you trust one without the other?
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Sung by sages, in many ways and distinctly, in various hymns, as also in the suggestive words about Brahman, full of reasoning and decisive. [1]
(This truth) has been sung by Rishis in many ways, in various distinctive chants, in passages indicative of Brahman, full of reasoning, and convincing. [4]
Hear, too, how sages sang / This knowledge, and what reasons have been given / In Brahma's Song, making it clear and plain. [7]
(All which) is sung in various ways by sages in numerous hymns, distinctly, and in well-settled texts full of argument, giving indications or full instruction about the Brahman. [9]
All this has in many ways been sung separately, by Rishis in various verses, in well-settled texts fraught with reason and giving indications of Brahman. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
Constant Self-enquiry + seeing the goal of true knowledge = THIS IS JÑĀNA; all else is ignorance.
Sanjaya describes what the blind king cannot see: Arjuna weeping, overwhelmed with compassion.
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?
Steady wisdom begins here: when all desires fall away and the Self finds fullness in itself alone.
Verse 5 of 34 · back to Chapter 13