Arjuna receives the Lord's own word as truth that no other witness can supply.
Krishna has spoken of his own glory, and the seers have said the same; Arjuna now answers with the word ṛitaṁ, this is truly so. Nothing stands above the Lord to vouch for him, so when he tells what he is, the one reliable source is speaking, and Arjuna asks for no further proof.
I accept as true all that you tell me, Keshava, slayer of the demon Keshi. Neither the gods nor the demons know your manifestation.
It stands inside Arjuna's answering hymn: the seers had declared this glory, Krishna has now confirmed it himself, and Arjuna's earlier uncertainty resolves into his own assent, folded into the witness list beside the sages.
Where they agreethe convergence
Across schools and centuries the commentators come to the same ground. These are the points they share, and the voices that hold each one.
Arjuna does not say this is probably so; he says it is so, and his own assent now stands beside the seers' word.
Across Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Śuddhādvaita, Bhakti, and the modern voicesŚaṅkara · Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana · Rāmānuja · Vedānta Deśika · Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara · Viśvanātha · Baladeva · Jñāneśvar · TilakIn Śaṅkara, Ānandagiri, and 9 others’ words
Arjuna here declares that he accepts everything Krishna has said as completely true. The key word is 'ritam', which means 'truly so' or 'in accord with reality'. This is the strongest mark of acceptance in Sanskrit; Arjuna is not saying 'I think this is probably right' but 'I take this as established truth'. Several commentators stress that this acceptance covers both what the seers (rishis) had said earlier and what Krishna himself has now confirmed. The point is that Arjuna's earlier uncertainty as a student has now been resolved, and his own assent has been folded into the witness list alongside the sages.
When the Lord tells his own glory it is not boasting; nothing stands above him, so only his witness can settle what he is.
Across Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Śuddhādvaita, BhaktiMadhusūdana · Dhanapati · Rāmānuja · Vedānta Deśika · Vallabha · ŚrīdharaIn Madhusūdana, Dhanapati, and 4 others’ words
The reason Arjuna can fully trust Krishna's word is that only Krishna is in a position to speak the truth of his own being. No outside party can validate it from a superior vantage point, because nothing stands above the Lord. So when Krishna describes his own glory, this is not boasting or mere praise; it is the one reliable source declaring what only that source can know. For this reason Arjuna treats Krishna's self-witness as enough to settle the matter, with no demand for further proof.
Neither the gods nor the demons know how he comes to appear; the source of all cannot be grasped by those who arise from him.
Across Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Śuddhādvaita, Bhakti, and the modern voicesŚaṅkara · Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana · Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · Rāmānuja · Vedānta Deśika · Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara · Viśvanātha · Baladeva · Jñāneśvar · Sivananda · TilakIn Śaṅkara, Ānandagiri, and 12 others’ words
The verse turns on the word 'vyakti', which commentators gloss as Krishna's 'manifestation' or 'origin', the manner in which he shows himself in the visible world. Arjuna affirms that neither the gods (devas) nor the demons (danavas) know this vyakti. Even beings far above ordinary humans, distinguished by an excess of knowledge or power, cannot grasp how the Lord comes to appear. They may see his various forms, but they do not recognize those forms as the Lord's true self-disclosure. The reasoning is that the one who is the very beginning and source of the gods and all else cannot be comprehended by those who come after him and depend on him.
The names themselves carry the weight: Keśhava, who holds Brahmā and Rudra within his rule; Bhagavān, full of the six majesties.
Across Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Bhakti, and the modern voicesMadhusūdana · Dhanapati · Rāmānuja · Viśvanātha · Baladeva · Sivananda · RamsukhdasIn Madhusūdana, Dhanapati, and 5 others’ words
Arjuna's two names for Krishna in this verse, 'Keshava' and 'Bhagavan', are both read as carrying weight, not chosen at random. Many commentators unpack 'Keshava' through an etymology in which Krishna controls or contains Brahma and Rudra (and in some readings Vishnu as well), making him the inner ruler and source of the very gods who order creation, preservation, and dissolution. 'Bhagavan' is read as the one who fully possesses the six majesties, named variously as knowledge, power, strength, lordship, valor, splendor, dispassion, fame, and wealth. Both titles thus reinforce the verse's central claim: the one Arjuna addresses is so far the source of all that even the gods cannot fathom him.
This is the shared ground; it can be carried as it is. Below is where they differ.
Where they differthe divergence
Viśiṣṭādvaita, in their fuller words
This school reads the verse as a model of the right way to receive the Lord's word. Arjuna's acceptance is framed as a complete inner assent to truth rather than the asking for proof. Krishna's lordship is described as natural to him, shared by no other, of unsurpassed and limitless degree, together with an endless host of auspicious qualities. The gods and demons, having bounded knowledge, cannot know his manifestation. These sources draw a lesson for the spiritual candidate: when one hears Arjuna's example, the fitting response to the Lord's self-declaration is this same inner truth-acceptance, not a demand for further evidence.
Dvaita, in their fuller words
This source works closely on the precise meaning of the divine titles, taking care that the words 'Brahman' and 'all-pervading' not be flattened into a single sense. It derives 'Brahman' from the root meaning to be great and to fill: the supreme reality is great, full, and makes others full. The Lord is distinguished as 'supreme Brahman' and as 'other than Brahma'. He becomes manifold, of many forms; the first, seminal form that bestows the seed is glossed as 'all-pervading' and 'lord'. Being capable of mighty becoming makes him lord; having become manifold makes him all-pervading. The emphasis falls on careful scriptural and grammatical derivation of each term.
Bhakti, in their fuller words
These devotional commentators read Arjuna as already lifted past the ordinary doubt of a beginning student; the roll call of sages has done its work and Arjuna now simply takes Krishna's word as truth. Several add a striking point about why the gods and demons fail to know the Lord: the Lord binds even Brahma and Rudra in his play through their not fully knowing their own true nature, so the lesser beings have no hope of knowing him; some read this as the demons even slighting and bearing enmity toward him because they place him in a class other than themselves. One reading distinguishes the purpose of the manifestation that others miss: it is grace toward devotees and restraint toward the wicked. The Marathi voice further frames the whole moment as the fruit of the master's grace, without which all the elders' praise and all learning stay barren, like trees that bear fruit only when spring arrives.
Śuddhādvaita, in their fuller words
This school centers the verse on the seeker's own direct experience (anubhava). Where something is merely reported by another and not confirmed in one's own experience, faith may falter; so Arjuna grounds his acceptance in his own anubhava, from which he now holds Krishna's words true. The closing stanza of Arjuna's praise is read as turning on the 'pushti' point of divine grace: Krishna gives liberation even to those filled with bad qualities and even where the demons do not contend, and the very recognition of his glory is the form into which Arjuna's own devotion is now ripening.
Advaita Vedānta, in their fuller words
These commentators read the verse plainly as Arjuna's settled conviction that what both the seers and Krishna have said is the very truth, with no doubt of its validity anywhere. They take 'vyakti' as the Lord's manifestation or origin, and explain that since Krishna is the beginning of the gods and all else, even the gods, distinguished though they are by abundant knowledge, cannot know him; how much less, then, can men. One source adds that the all-knowing Lord, suggested by the name Keshava, controls Brahma and Rudra or beholds them with compassion, which is why he alone is the fit declarer of his own glory.
A few questions to carry
These ask for understanding, not recall; each answer is settled by the commentary itself.
For a second sitting
Carry this with youwhat stays
Notice what finally cleared the mystery for Arjuna. He says he had heard the elders extol this glory for years to little avail; the dark night of his soul lingered on, and the one thing missing was the light of grace. Only when the living word reached him did the seed of all that earlier teaching, long buried in his heart, finally sprout. The image is patient and kind: a gardener can water the trees day after day, sweating in his labor, yet the trees yield fruit only when spring arrives; a sick person can taste sweetness only once the fever breaks. So with us. The study, the praise we have heard, the effort we have put in are not wasted; they are the seed. But they come to fruition in their own season, when grace touches them. The lesson is not to force knowing by your own reckoning, which Arjuna calls a sore plight, but to let the word be received, and to trust that what you have long carried will ripen when its spring comes.
A gardener may water faithfully through every season, yet the trees bear fruit only when spring comes; so the truth you have long heard and carried waits for its season of grace.
Read deeper
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All the commentary, woven together
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machine-assisted draft, pending review
Convergence
rjuna here declares that he accepts everything Krishna has said as completely true. The key word is 'ritam', which means 'truly so' or 'in accord with reality'. This is the strongest mark of acceptance in Sanskrit; Arjuna is not saying 'I think this is probably right' but 'I take this as established truth'. Several commentators stress that this acceptance covers both what the seers (rishis) had said earlier and what Krishna himself has now confirmed. The point is that Arjuna's earlier uncertainty as a student has now been resolved, and his own assent has been folded into the witness list alongside the sages.
Braided from 11 commentators
Śaṅkarācārya · Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Rāmānujācārya · Vedānta Deśika · Śrī Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Śrīla Viśvanātha · Śrīla Baladeva · Sant Jñāneśvar · Lokmanya Tilak
The reason Arjuna can fully trust Krishna's word is that only Krishna is in a position to speak the truth of his own being. No outside party can validate it from a superior vantage point, because nothing stands above the Lord. So when Krishna describes his own glory, this is not boasting or mere praise; it is the one reliable source declaring what only that source can know. For this reason Arjuna treats Krishna's self-witness as enough to settle the matter, with no demand for further proof.
Braided from 6 commentators
Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Dhanapati Sūri · Rāmānujācārya · Vedānta Deśika · Vallabhācārya · Śrīdhara Svāmī
The verse turns on the word 'vyakti', which commentators gloss as Krishna's 'manifestation' or 'origin', the manner in which he shows himself in the visible world. Arjuna affirms that neither the gods (devas) nor the demons (danavas) know this vyakti. Even beings far above ordinary humans, distinguished by an excess of knowledge or power, cannot grasp how the Lord comes to appear. They may see his various forms, but they do not recognize those forms as the Lord's true self-disclosure. The reasoning is that the one who is the very beginning and source of the gods and all else cannot be comprehended by those who come after him and depend on him.
Braided from 14 commentators
Śaṅkarācārya · Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Rāmānujācārya · Vedānta Deśika · Śrī Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Śrīla Viśvanātha · Śrīla Baladeva · Sant Jñāneśvar · Swami Sivananda · Lokmanya Tilak
Arjuna's two names for Krishna in this verse, 'Keshava' and 'Bhagavan', are both read as carrying weight, not chosen at random. Many commentators unpack 'Keshava' through an etymology in which Krishna controls or contains Brahma and Rudra (and in some readings Vishnu as well), making him the inner ruler and source of the very gods who order creation, preservation, and dissolution. 'Bhagavan' is read as the one who fully possesses the six majesties, named variously as knowledge, power, strength, lordship, valor, splendor, dispassion, fame, and wealth. Both titles thus reinforce the verse's central claim: the one Arjuna addresses is so far the source of all that even the gods cannot fathom him.
Braided from 7 commentators
Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Dhanapati Sūri · Rāmānujācārya · Śrīla Viśvanātha · Śrīla Baladeva · Swami Sivananda · Swami Ramsukhdas
Divergence
Viśiṣṭādvaita
This school reads the verse as a model of the right way to receive the Lord's word. Arjuna's acceptance is framed as a complete inner assent to truth rather than the asking for proof. Krishna's lordship is described as natural to him, shared by no other, of unsurpassed and limitless degree, together with an endless host of auspicious qualities. The gods and demons, having bounded knowledge, cannot know his manifestation. These sources draw a lesson for the spiritual candidate: when one hears Arjuna's example, the fitting response to the Lord's self-declaration is this same inner truth-acceptance, not a demand for further evidence.
Rāmānujācārya · Vedānta Deśika
Dvaita
This source works closely on the precise meaning of the divine titles, taking care that the words 'Brahman' and 'all-pervading' not be flattened into a single sense. It derives 'Brahman' from the root meaning to be great and to fill: the supreme reality is great, full, and makes others full. The Lord is distinguished as 'supreme Brahman' and as 'other than Brahma'. He becomes manifold, of many forms; the first, seminal form that bestows the seed is glossed as 'all-pervading' and 'lord'. Being capable of mighty becoming makes him lord; having become manifold makes him all-pervading. The emphasis falls on careful scriptural and grammatical derivation of each term.
Śrī Jayatīrtha
Bhakti
These devotional commentators read Arjuna as already lifted past the ordinary doubt of a beginning student; the roll call of sages has done its work and Arjuna now simply takes Krishna's word as truth. Several add a striking point about why the gods and demons fail to know the Lord: the Lord binds even Brahma and Rudra in his play through their not fully knowing their own true nature, so the lesser beings have no hope of knowing him; some read this as the demons even slighting and bearing enmity toward him because they place him in a class other than themselves. One reading distinguishes the purpose of the manifestation that others miss: it is grace toward devotees and restraint toward the wicked. The Marathi voice further frames the whole moment as the fruit of the master's grace, without which all the elders' praise and all learning stay barren, like trees that bear fruit only when spring arrives.
Śrīdhara Svāmī · Śrīla Viśvanātha · Śrīla Baladeva · Sant Jñāneśvar
Śuddhādvaita
This school centers the verse on the seeker's own direct experience (anubhava). Where something is merely reported by another and not confirmed in one's own experience, faith may falter; so Arjuna grounds his acceptance in his own anubhava, from which he now holds Krishna's words true. The closing stanza of Arjuna's praise is read as turning on the 'pushti' point of divine grace: Krishna gives liberation even to those filled with bad qualities and even where the demons do not contend, and the very recognition of his glory is the form into which Arjuna's own devotion is now ripening.
Vallabhācārya · Śrī Puruṣottama
Advaita Vedānta
These commentators read the verse plainly as Arjuna's settled conviction that what both the seers and Krishna have said is the very truth, with no doubt of its validity anywhere. They take 'vyakti' as the Lord's manifestation or origin, and explain that since Krishna is the beginning of the gods and all else, even the gods, distinguished though they are by abundant knowledge, cannot know him; how much less, then, can men. One source adds that the all-knowing Lord, suggested by the name Keshava, controls Brahma and Rudra or beholds them with compassion, which is why he alone is the fit declarer of his own glory.
Śaṅkarācārya · Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī
A Seeker Asks
If even the gods and demons cannot know Krishna's true manifestation, what hope does an ordinary person have of knowing him at all?
First, see clearly why the gods and demons fail. The reason is not that knowing is impossible; it is that they try to grasp the Lord from below, as if he were one being among others, when in fact he is their own source and beginning. The one who comes first and gives rise to all cannot be comprehended by those who depend on him and come after. So their failure is the failure of a particular approach: trying to know the source by one's own power, from the standpoint of an effect.
Śaṅkarācārya · Śrī Ānandagiri · Rāmānujācārya · Swami Sivananda
The verse itself points to the alternative. Arjuna does not know the Lord by climbing up to him; he knows him because the Lord himself has spoken, and Arjuna receives that word as true. The right response to the Lord's self-disclosure is inner acceptance, not a demand for proof one could never supply, since only the Lord can witness his own being. This receptive trust is exactly the path open to an ordinary person and closed to the proud beings who insist on knowing by their own reckoning.
Rāmānujācārya · Vedānta Deśika · Vallabhācārya · Śrīdhara Svāmī
And the deciding factor is grace. The elders' praise and all one's learning are real seed, but they bear fruit only when the master's grace moistens them, as trees fruit only in spring. So the hope of the ordinary person is greater, not smaller, than that of the gods: the very manifestation that others miss is itself grace toward devotees, and the Lord gives liberation even to those full of bad qualities. What is barred to power is given to humble, trusting reception.
Sant Jñāneśvar · Śrī Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara Svāmī
Contemplation
Notice what finally cleared the mystery for Arjuna. He says he had heard the elders extol this glory for years to little avail; the dark night of his soul lingered on, and the one thing missing was the light of grace. Only when the living word reached him did the seed of all that earlier teaching, long buried in his heart, finally sprout. The image is patient and kind: a gardener can water the trees day after day, sweating in his labor, yet the trees yield fruit only when spring arrives; a sick person can taste sweetness only once the fever breaks. So with us. The study, the praise we have heard, the effort we have put in are not wasted; they are the seed. But they come to fruition in their own season, when grace touches them. The lesson is not to force knowing by your own reckoning, which Arjuna calls a sore plight, but to let the word be received, and to trust that what you have long carried will ripen when its spring comes.
Sit with this · Sant Jñāneśvar
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