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Chapter 10 · The Opulence of the Absolute · 42 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Questions & crisisChapter 10 · The Opulence of the Absolute
10.1710.19

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 10.18

Arjuna accepts and asks to hear more

Īśvara · God

विस्तरेणात्मनो योगं विभूतिं च जनार्दन ।

भूय: कथय तृप्‍तिर्हि श‍ृण्वतो नास्ति मेऽमृतम् ॥ १८ ॥

vistareṇātmano yogaṁ

vibhūtiṁ ca janārdana

bhūyaḥ kathaya tṛptir hi

śṛṇvato nāsti me ’mṛtam

Translation

O Janārdana, again please describe in detail the mystic power of Your opulences. I am never satiated in hearing about You, for the more I hear the more I want to taste the nectar of Your words.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

The Nectar of Hearing

  1. 1

    Arjuna asks Kṛṣṇa to describe His divine powers in detail again; the more he hears, the more he wants to hear.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that accounts of Kṛṣṇa are like nectar and remain fresh, unlike worldly stories.

  3. 3

    Keep hearing and reading about Kṛṣṇa to experience the sweetness of His words and pastimes.

Key points from the purport

Hearing about Krishna is like relishing nectar

Thus by remembering Krishna, ‘one can relish great nectar’

One is ‘never satiated’ by hearing about Krishna

Further reading

Arjuna Accepts Krishna’s Position And Requests To Hear More

Of his opulences

Arjuna refers to previous authorities

Thus confirms Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Also by his own realisation)

Prays to Krishna to hear more of his glories so that he can always think of Him and remember Him

Otherwise Krishna will remain unknowable

Chapter 10, section III: Arjuna Accepts Krishna’s Position And Requests To Hear More
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. vistareṇain detail
  2. ātmanaḥYour
  3. yogammystic power
  4. vibhūtimopulences
  5. caalso
  6. jana-ardanaO killer of the atheists
  7. bhūyaḥagain
  8. kathayadescribe
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: saṁśaya, viṣāda.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 10.18 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to questions & crisis?

Practice

Write down the real question behind your current dilemma.

5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 10.12Arjuna accepts and asks to hear moreBG 10.13Arjuna accepts and asks to hear moreBG 1.28Compassion entangled with attachmentBG 1.46The bow falls
Live this todayKṛṣṇa in Every HeartA practice from BG 10.20, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
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