4-4

अर्जुन उवाच -
अवरम् भवतो जन्म परम् जन्म विवस्वतः ।
कथम् एतत् विजानीयाम् त्वम् आदौ प्रोक्तवान् इति ॥

arjuna uvAca -
avaram bhavato janma param janma vivasvataH |
katham etat vijAnIyAm tvam Adau proktavAn iti ||

अर्जुन उवाच [arjuna uvAca] Arjuna said- भवतो जन्म [bhavato janma] Your birth अवरम् [avaram] is recent. विवस्वतः जन्म [vivasvataH janma] The birth of Vivasvan परम् [param] was long ago. कथम् विजानीयाम् [katham vijAnIyAm] How can I understand एतत् [etat] the fact, त्वम् आदौ प्रोक्तवान् इति [tvam Adau proktavAn iti] that You are the person who said this at the beginning?

Does the Lord take birth?

Arjuna asks- Going by the passage of time, Your birth is recent, in the same period as the rest of us. The birth of Vivasvan happened a long time ago- 28 sets of four-yugas ago, as calculated by the records.

Yuga is a period of time. There are four yugas: कृत [kRta] or सत्य [satya] with 1,728,000 years, त्रेत [treta] with 1,296,000 years, द्वापर [dvApara] with 864,000 years and कलि [kali] with 432,000 years.

A kalpa is 14 sets of 71 yuga-cycles, or 4.3 billion years.

The statement that you were indeed the person who spoke at the beginning of this period sounds impossible. How can I grasp this fact in its real sense?

Of course, it can be explained that the Lord spoke to Vivasvan in some other birth. Great people can remember their deeds from a previous birth. So, there is no impossibility or contradiction over here. Moreover, while conversing, it’s not that Arjuna was unaware of Krishna being the Lord of the universe. In fact, Arjuna himself says ‘You are the ultimate creator, the ultimate refuge and the ultimate in purity. You are a person who is eternal, divine, the ultimate master- this has been told by all the sages including Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa. You have told me the same.’ (See 10-4 to 10-13).

In Yudhishthira’s Rajasuya, Bhishma and others proclaimed again and again: ‘Krishna himself is the ultimate cause for the creation and destruction of the universe. All the conscious and unconscious beings exist for Krishna’s purpose only ([bhArata. sabhA]. 38-26)

This means the whole world is under Krishna’s control.

Arjuna’s question can be detailed this way- Arjuna knows that the son of Vasudeva is indeed the Lord. Yet, he asks as though he doesn’t know.

This is the clarification he seeks: Is the birth of the Lord in human form an illusion?

The Lord is supreme and there’s nothing He needs. Why does he need to take birth in this world?

Consider this: The Lord destroys all troubles and is the abode of all auspicious qualities. He is the controller of everything and He knows everything. His purpose is always fulfilled and He has everything He desires. He has now been born among mortals, who are bound to their actions. Is this birth real? If so, what is the nature of this birth? What constitutes the body that is born? What’s the cause of this birth? When is this birth going to happen? What’s the goal of such a birth?

Arjuna sought clarifications to all these doubts with his question.