4.9
जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ।
त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन ॥
janma karma ca me divyam evaṃ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṃ punarjanma naiti mām eti so 'rjuna
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is still speaking, to Arjuna.
The verse
Who knows my birth and my work as divine, in truth, does not go to another birth when he leaves the body; he comes to me, Arjuna.
नेपालीमा
जसले मेरो जन्म र मेरो कर्मलाई दिव्य भनेर सत्य रूपमा जान्छ, त्यो शरीर छाड्दा अर्को जन्ममा जाँदैन। त्यो मकहाँ आउँछ, हे अर्जुन।
Where it sits
4.5 through 4.8 answered how he could have taught the sun, and this verse says what that answer is for: knowing this birth and this work as divine is a way out of being born again. The people who have come that way are named in 4.10.
Split: जन्म + कर्म + च + मे + दिव्यम् + एवम् + यः + वेत्ति + तत्त्वतः + त्यक्त्वा + देहम् + पुनर्जन्म + न + एति + माम् + एति + सः + अर्जुन
janma + karma + ca + me + divyam + evam + yaḥ + vetti + tattvataḥ + tyaktvā + deham + punarjanma + na + eti + mām + eti + saḥ + arjuna
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| जन्म | janma | accusative | birth. |
| कर्म | karma | accusative | action, work. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. |
| मे | me | genitive enclitic | my. |
| दिव्यम् | divyam | accusative | divine. Not an ordinary birth, not an ordinary act. Agrees with both neuters. |
| एवम् | evam | indeclinable | thus. As 4.6–4.8 have just said it. |
| यः | yaḥ | nominative | who. |
| वेत्ति | vetti | present, 3rd singular | he knows. From vid (विद्). |
| तत्त्वतः | tattvataḥ | indeclinable | in truth, as it really is. tattva (तत्त्व) is "that-ness." The ending --taḥ (तः) makes an adverb. |
| त्यक्त्वा | tyaktvā | gerund | having left. From tyaj (त्यज्). |
| देहम् | deham | accusative | the body. |
| पुनर्जन्म | punarjanma | accusative | birth again. |
| न | na | indeclinable | not. |
| एति | eti | present, 3rd singular | he goes. From i (इ). |
| माम् | mām | accusative | me. |
| एति | eti | present, 3rd singular | he comes, he goes. The same verb, with a different object. |
| सः | saḥ | nominative | he. The one who knows. |
| अर्जुन | arjuna | vocative | Arjuna. |
The phrases
जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यम् एवम् यः वेत्ति तत्त्वतः janma karma ca me divyam evam yaḥ vetti tattvataḥ is the knower. Who knows my birth and my action as divine, in truth, the way they were just described. दिव्यम् एवम् divyam evam is divyam evam (दिव्यमेवम्). yaḥ vetti (यः वेत्ति) is yo vetti (यो वेत्ति).
tyaktvā dehaṃ punarjanma na eti (त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म न एति) is what he does not do. Having left the body, he does not go to a birth again. न + एति na + eti is naiti (नैति). The ai (ऐ) is sandhi, not a new root.
माम् एति सः अर्जुन mām eti saḥ arjuna is what he does instead. He comes to me. माम् एति mām eti is mām eti (मामेति). saḥ arjuna (सः अर्जुन) is so 'rjuna (सोऽर्जुन): before a vowel the pronoun takes the ordinary avagraha. This is not the consonant rule of 4.2.
Sanskrit in this line
naiti (नैति) is two words, na (न) and eti (एति). अ + ए a + e becomes ai (ऐ). If you hear one verb, you lose the negative, and the verse says the opposite of what it says. The second eti (एति), in mām eti (मामेति), is the same verb without the negative: he does come, to me.
Say it back
What he knows, where he does not go, where he does go. If naiti (नैति) is recited as a single verb, stay here.