5.1
अर्जुन उवाच
संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि ।
यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम् ॥
arjuna uvāca
saṃnyāsaṃ karmaṇāṃ kṛṣṇa punar yogaṃ ca śaṃsasi
yacchreya etayor ekaṃ tan me brūhi suniścitam
Arjuna (अर्जुन) is speaking, to Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण). uvāca (उवाच) is "he said." It stands outside the meter.
The verse
Arjuna (अर्जुन) said: Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण), you praise the renunciation of actions and again you praise yoga, so tell me which one of these two is better, as a sure thing.
नेपालीमा
अर्जुनले भने, हे कृष्ण, तपाईं कर्महरूको संन्यासको प्रशंसा गर्नुहुन्छ र फेरि योगको प्रशंसा गर्नुहुन्छ। यी दुईमध्ये कुन एउटा राम्रो हो, त्यो मलाई निश्चित गरेर भन्नुहोस्।
Where it sits
He has heard both spoken well of. He stops the teaching and asks for one of them. The rest of the chapter is the answer. It will say that both reach the end, and then it will still choose.
Split: संन्यासम् + कर्मणाम् + कृष्ण + पुनर् + योगम् + च + शंससि + यत् + श्रेयः + एतयोः + एकम् + तत् + मे + ब्रूहि + सु-निश्चितम्
saṃnyāsam + karmaṇām + kṛṣṇa + punar + yogam + ca + śaṃsasi + yat + śreyaḥ + etayoḥ + ekam + tat + me + brūhi + su-niścitam
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| संन्यासम् | saṃnyāsam | accusative singular | renunciation. The laying down of action. |
| कर्मणाम् | karmaṇām | genitive plural of karman (कर्मन्) | of actions. |
| कृष्ण | kṛṣṇa | vocative | Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण). |
| पुनर् | punar | indeclinable | again. |
| योगम् | yogam | accusative singular | yoga. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. |
| शंससि | śaṃsasi | present, 2nd singular of śaṃs (शंस्) | you praise. |
| यत् | yat | nominative singular neuter | which. |
| श्रेयः | śreyaḥ | nominative singular neuter | the better. |
| एतयोः | etayoḥ | genitive dual | of these two. |
| एकम् | ekam | nominative singular neuter | one. |
| तत् | tat | accusative singular neuter | that. |
| मे | me | dative of aham (अहम्) | to me. |
| ब्रूहि | brūhi | imperative, 2nd singular of brū (ब्रू) | tell. |
| सु-निश्चितम् | su-niścitam | accusative singular neuter | well decided. Sure. |
The phrases
saṃnyāsam karmaṇām (संन्यासम् कर्मणाम्) is the first thing he says Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) has praised: the renunciation of actions. yogam (योगम्) is the second, and punar (पुनर्) puts it second. ca (च) joins them. Both are objects of śaṃsasi (शंससि).
yat śreyaḥ etayoḥ ekam (यत् श्रेयः एतयोः एकम्) is the question, and it has no finite verb. "Which one of these two is the better." etayoḥ (एतयोः) is dual. There are two, and he wants one.
tat me brūhi su-niścitam (तत् मे ब्रूहि सु-निश्चितम्) is the command. Tell that to me, and tell it as a thing already decided. The yat (यत्) of the question and the tat (तत्) of the command are a pair.
punar (पुनर्) is recited inside punaryogam (पुनर्योगम्). In pause the word is punaḥ (पुनः). Before the voiced y (य्) the r (र्) returns. yat śreyaḥ (यत् श्रेयः) is recited yacchreya (यच्छ्रेय): t (त्) before ś (श्) becomes c (च्), and the ś (श्) is written ch (छ्). Then śreyaḥ (श्रेयः) stands before e (ए) and loses its visarga. etayoḥ ekam (एतयोः एकम्) is recited etayor ekam (एतयोरेकम्). tat me (तत् मे) is recited tan me (तन्मे).
Sanskrit in this line
etayoḥ (एतयोः) is genitive dual. The dual ending --oḥ (ओः) answers "of two" or "in two." Here it is "of." The two have already been named, saṃnyāsa (संन्यास) and yoga (योग), so the pronoun can point at them without repeating them. A plural would have blurred the choice into a crowd. The verse is a choice of two.
brūhi (ब्रूहि) is the imperative. The --hi (हि) is the ending that makes "you, say it" out of brū (ब्रू). The same verb in 1.2 was now past: abravīt (अब्रवीत्), "he said."
Say it back
Cover this page below the Devanagari. Ask his question with etayoḥ (एतयोः) still dual. If the two collapse into one topic before Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) answers, stay here.