Bhagavad Gita 18.74
Spoken by Sanjaya · Verse 74 of 78
इत्य् अहं वासुदेवस्य पार्थस्य च महात्मनः । संवादम् इमम् अश्रौषम् अद्भुतं रोमहर्षणम् ॥
ity ahaṃ vāsudevasya pārthasya ca mahātmanaḥ | saṃvādam imam aśrauṣam adbhutaṃ roma-harṣaṇam ||
Thus have I heard this wondrous hair-raising dialogue between Vāsudeva and the great-souled Pārtha — Sañjaya's witness.
Word by word (3)
- iti ahaṃ vāsudevasya pārthasya ca mahātmanaḥ
- — iti = thus (conclusion marker — closing the direct speech of both Krishna and Arjuna); aham = I (Sañjaya, now speaking again as the narrator to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, closing the frame narrative opened in Ch.1 V1); vāsudevasya = of Vāsudeva/Krishna (Vāsudeva = son of Vasudeva; Krishna's clan name; genitive); pārthasya = of Pārtha/Arjuna (son of Pṛthā/Kuntī; genitive); ca = and; mahātmanaḥ = of the great-souled/magnanimous one (mahā = great + ātman = soul)
- saṃvādam imam aśrauṣam
- — saṃvādam = dialogue/conversation (sam + vāda = together + speaking; the formal term for the Gita's teaching format — a dialogue, not a monologue); imam = this (pointing at the entire conversation just heard); aśrauṣam = I heard (aorist/perfect of śru = to hear; first person: I have heard — Sañjaya's witnessing role confirmed; per Ch.18 V75, this hearing was through Vyāsa's grace)
- adbhutaṃ roma-harṣaṇam
- — adbhutam = wonderful/marvellous/astonishing (one of the nine rasas; from a-dbhuta = the astonishing, beyond ordinary comprehension); roma-harṣaṇam = causing the hair to stand on end (roma = body hair; harṣaṇa = causing to bristle/thrill; the somatic/physical sign of profound spiritual and aesthetic experience — the same response that great music or the Viśvarūpa evoked); Sañjaya's witness has been a full-body experience of the Gita
Thus have I (Sañjaya) heard this wonderful, hair-raising (roma-harṣaṇam) dialogue between Vāsudeva (Krishna) and the great-souled Pārtha (Arjuna).
A modern analogy
This verse is Sañjaya closing his witness report to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. The entire Gita has been spoken through Sañjaya's divinely-granted hearing (Vyāsa's gift). Now, as the dialogue ends, Sañjaya steps forward from behind the curtain of reporting and shares his own response: adbhutam (astonishing) and roma-harṣaṇam (my hair stood on end). The reporter who has perfectly transmitted the teaching is also personally transformed by it — no one hears the Gita unmoved.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Thus have I heard this wonderful and hair-raising dialogue between Vasudeva and the high-souled Partha. [1]
Thus have I heard this wonderful and hair-raising dialogue between Vasudeva and the high-souled Partha. [4]
Thus have I heard this wonderful and thrilling dialogue between Vasudeva and the high-souled Partha. [9]
Thus have I heard this wonderful and hair-raising dialogue between Vasudeva and the great-souled son of Pritha. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
Who measures others' joy and pain by the standard of their own — seeing the same everywhere — is the supreme yogi.
Past practice carries the yogi forward involuntarily — even the yoga-inquirer surpasses the Vedic ritualist.
This most secret śāstra spoken — knowing it, one becomes truly wise and kṛta-kṛtya: all duties fulfilled.
Three gates to hell, destructive of the self: kāma, krodha, lobha. Therefore abandon this triad.
Verse 74 of 78 · back to Chapter 18