7.18
उदाराः सर्व एवैते ज्ञानी त्वात्मैव मे मतम् ।
आस्थितः स हि युक्तात्मा मामेवानुत्तमां गतिम् ॥
udārāḥ sarva evaite jñānī tvātmaiva me matam
āsthitaḥ sa hi yuktātmā mām evānuttamāṃ gatim
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन).
The verse
Noble, all of these. But the one who knows is my very self: that is my view. For he, his self yoked, has taken his stand on me alone, the goal nothing is higher than.
नेपालीमा
यी सबै उदार छन्, तर जान्ने त मेरो आत्मा नै हो, मेरो मत यही हो। किनकि ऊ, आत्मा युक्त भएर, ममा मात्र उभिएको छ, त्यो लक्ष्यमा जसभन्दा माथि केही छैन।
Where it sits
7.17 said the knower stands out, and that the dearness runs both ways. This verse says how far that goes. Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) calls him his own self, and the goal the knower stands on is himself, with nothing above it. 7.7's "nothing higher" has come back as a goal a person takes.
Split: उदाराः + सर्वे + एव + एते + ज्ञानी + तु + आत्मा + एव + मे + मतम् + आस्थितः + सः + हि + युक्त-आत्मा + माम् + एव + अनुत्तमाम् + गतिम्
udārāḥ + sarve + eva + ete + jñānī + tu + ātmā + eva + me + matam + āsthitaḥ + saḥ + hi + yukta-ātmā + mām + eva + anuttamām + gatim
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| उदाराः | udārāḥ | nominative plural | noble, generous. |
| सर्वे | sarve | nominative plural | all. |
| एव | eva | indeclinable | indeed. |
| एते | ete | nominative plural | these. The four. |
| ज्ञानी | jñānī | nominative | the one who knows. |
| तु | tu | indeclinable | but. The contrast. |
| आत्मा | ātmā | nominative of ātman (आत्मन्) | the self. |
| एव | eva | indeclinable | itself, very. |
| मे | me | genitive | my. |
| मतम् | matam | nominative singular, neuter | view, what is held. "In my view." |
| आस्थितः | āsthitaḥ | nominative singular | having taken his stand. From ā-sthā (आ-स्था). |
| सः | saḥ | nominative | he. |
| हि | hi | indeclinable | for. |
| युक्त-आत्मा | yukta-ātmā | nominative, bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि) | whose self is yoked. |
| माम् | mām | accusative | me. |
| एव | eva | indeclinable | alone. |
| अनुत्तमाम् | anuttamām | accusative feminine | with nothing higher. uttama (उत्तम) "highest," an (अन्) "not" in front of it. |
| गतिम् | gatim | accusative of gati (गति) | the goal, the going. |
The phrases
udārāḥ sarve eva ete (उदाराः सर्वे एव एते) does not take back 7.16. All four are noble. The praise is real.
jñānī tu ātmā eva me matam (ज्ञानी तु आत्मा एव मे मतम्) is the contrast the tu (तु) marks. But the one who knows, in his view, is his very self. The other three are dear and noble. This one he calls himself.
आस्थितः सः हि युक्त-आत्मा माम् एव अनुत्तमाम् गतिम् āsthitaḥ saḥ hi yukta-ātmā mām eva anuttamām gatim is why. That one, his self yoked, has taken his stand on him alone as the goal nothing is higher than. सः + हि saḥ + hi is recited sa hi (स हि). The pronoun saḥ (सः) drops its visarga. It does not become so (सो), which is what an ordinary aḥ (अः) would do before the voiced h (ह्).
Sanskrit in this line
tvātmaiva (त्वात्मैव) is three words: तु + आत्मा + एव tu + ātmā + eva.
उ + आ u + ā becomes vā (वा). तु + आत्मा tu + ātmā is tvātmā (त्वात्मा).
आ + ए ā + e becomes ai (ऐ). आत्मा + एव ātmā eva is ātmaiva (आत्मैव).
The tu (तु) is the contrast with udārāḥ (उदाराः). If it is swallowed, the four are simply called his self, and the verse no longer singles anyone out. सर्वे + एव + एते sarve + eva + ete is the other join in the first line: ए + ए e + e contracts, then अ + ए a + e becomes ai (ऐ), so sarva evaite (सर्व एवैते).
Say it back
All four noble, then the exception. If ātmā (आत्मा) is said of the four together, the tu (तु) was missed. Stay here.