श्रीभगवानुवाच | भूय एव महाबाहो श्रृणु मे परमं वचः | यत्तेऽहं प्रीयमाणाय वक्ष्यामि हितकाम्यया ||१||
śrī-bhagavān uvāca | bhūya eva mahā-bāho śṛṇu me paramaṃ vacaḥ | yat te'haṃ prīyamāṇāya vakṣyāmi hita-kāmyayā || 1 ||
Again, O mighty-armed — hear My supreme word: I speak it to you who love Me, out of desire for your welfare.
Word by word (3)
- bhūya eva śṛṇu me paramaṃ vacaḥ
- — Again — hear My supreme word · bhūyaḥ = again, once more (from √bhū = to be; bhūyaḥ = 'again, further, moreover' — indicating continuation of the teaching after Ch.9's close). eva = indeed, again (emphatic — 'again indeed'). śṛṇu = hear! (imperative √śru = to hear; second person singular command — direct, intimate instruction). me = My (genitive — 'of Me'). paramaṃ vacaḥ = supreme word/speech (parama = highest, supreme; vacas = word, speech — paramāṃ vacaḥ = 'the supreme word, the highest teaching'). Context: Ch.9 closed with V34's complete four-fold bhakti instruction (man-manā/mad-bhakta/mad-yājī/namaskuru) and the promise mām evaiṣyasi. Ch.10 now opens with bhūyaḥ eva — 'Again, hear.' This signals not a completely new subject but a continuation and deepening. Having taught the PRACTICE in Ch.9 (especially V34), Krishna now teaches the KNOWLEDGE that deepens and sustains the practice: His vibhūtis (manifestations). The bhūyaḥ eva creates a natural bridge between the two chapters.
- mahā-bāho
- — O mighty-armed one · mahā-bāho = O mighty-armed (mahā = great; bāhu = arm; vocative mahā-bāho = 'O you of great arms'). This is one of Krishna's most frequent epithets for Arjuna in the Gita — it acknowledges Arjuna's warrior identity and strength while the deeper teaching it introduces moves beyond physical prowess to spiritual knowledge. The mighty arms that Arjuna is being called upon to use in battle will be guided by the knowledge Krishna is about to give. Contrast: mahā-bāho (physical power) + what follows (wisdom that transcends physical power). The Gita consistently honors Arjuna's warrior identity while training his understanding to guide it wisely.
- yat te'haṃ prīyamāṇāya vakṣyāmi hita-kāmyayā
- — Which I will declare to you who are delighted — out of desire for your welfare · yat = which (what I am about to declare). te = to you (dative). ahaṃ = I. prīyamāṇāya = to you who are delighted/who love (prīyamāṇa = present participle passive of √prī = to please, to love; prīyamāṇāya = 'to you who are being pleased, who are well-pleased, who delight' — indicating Arjuna's receptive, loving state). vakṣyāmi = I will declare (future of √vac = to speak; vakṣyāmi = 'I will speak, I will declare'). hita-kāmyayā = out of desire for your welfare (hita = welfare, benefit, good; kāmyā = desire for; hita-kāmyayā = 'out of desire for your welfare/benefit'). The phrase hita-kāmyayā (out of desire for your welfare) is Krishna's explicit statement of motivation: He teaches this knowledge because He desires Arjuna's hita (welfare). This establishes the teaching relationship: not a guru lecturing from superiority but a friend who teaches out of love and care. Compare V18.65's 'priyo'si me' (you are dear to Me) — hita-kāmyayā in V1 and priyo'si me in V18.65 together form the Gita's frame of divine love for the student.
V1 opens Ch.10 with bhūyaḥ eva (again!) — a direct continuation after Ch.9's practice instruction. Krishna calls Arjuna mahā-bāho (O mighty-armed) and announces paramaṃ vacaḥ (the supreme word) He is about to share. The motivation: hita-kāmyayā — out of desire for your welfare. V1 establishes the teaching frame: friendship and care, not lecture. This echoes the Gita's opening chapters where Krishna initiated the teaching from the same compassionate concern for Arjuna's confusion.
A modern analogy
A master teacher who has just explained HOW to meditate (the technique — Ch.9's bhajasva mām) now says: 'Hear me further — I'll tell you WHY this works, what you're actually connecting to when you practice.' The 'again' is not repetition but deepening: Ch.10's vibhūti knowledge gives the meditator something to connect with during Ch.9's practice. The more you know what you're connecting to, the more alive the practice becomes.
What it does NOT mean
V1's bhūyaḥ eva (again) does not mean Krishna is repetitive or that what follows is merely a summary of what came before. The 'again' signals a new depth of the SAME teaching: Ch.9 gave the practice (V34's four-fold instruction); Ch.10 gives the knowledge that enriches the practice (the vibhūtis). The two chapters are complementary: practice without knowledge is mechanical; knowledge without practice is theoretical. Ch.9-10 together = practice + knowledge.
Take with you
- V1's hita-kāmyayā (out of desire for your welfare) as the model for all teaching: Krishna teaches not to demonstrate knowledge but because He desires Arjuna's welfare. Any genuine teaching has this motivation: the teacher's desire for the student's benefit. Check your own teaching and advice-giving: is it from hita-kāmyayā (desire for their welfare) or from something else?
- V1's prīyamāṇāya (to you who delight/love) as the receptivity condition: the supreme word is given to the one who is delighted, who loves the teacher and the teaching. This is not exclusion but description: the deepest teachings require an open, loving receptivity to enter. V1 shows the ideal student state: delighted, loving, receptive.
- V1 as Ch.9-10 bridge: read V9.34 and V10.1 together as one teaching unit. V9.34 = the practice instruction (man-manā + mad-bhakta + mad-yājī + namaskuru). V10.1 = 'again, hear' — now I'll give you the knowledge that enriches the practice. Practice (Ch.9) + Knowledge (Ch.10) = complete vibhūti-yoga.
V10.1 functions as a transitional opening — bhūyaḥ eva (again) explicitly connecting to Ch.9's close. The structure of Ch.9-10 is a diptych: Ch.9 = bhakti (devotional practice — the path to the divine); Ch.10 = vibhūti (knowledge of the divine's manifestations — the content of what the practice connects to). Krishna's hita-kāmyayā (desire for Arjuna's welfare) is the teaching's motivational frame. This personal-care framing distinguishes the Gita from formal philosophical treatises: this is a friend teaching a friend, not a philosopher lecturing. The three elements of V1: (1) bhūyaḥ eva = continuation (not repetition but deepening); (2) mahā-bāho = acknowledgment of Arjuna's identity; (3) prīyamāṇāya/hita-kāmyayā = the emotional/motivational frame (love and welfare). Together these establish the teaching relationship that makes what follows receivable: supreme knowledge (paramaṃ vacaḥ) can only be received in a relationship of love and trust. This is the Gita's pedagogy: knowledge requires the right relational container.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya: bhūyaḥ eva = indicating a further teaching of the same Brahman-ātman knowledge. The vibhūtis are not a separate subject but a pedagogical extension: showing how the one Brahman appears as the multitude of excellent manifestations. The hita-kāmyayā: the teacher's desire for the student's welfare = the compassion (karuṇā) of the liberated sage who teaches from fullness, not need.
Bhakti lens
For bhakti traditions, V1's prīyamāṇāya (to you who are delighted, who love) is the key: the supreme word of Ch.10 is specifically given to the devotee who loves. This establishes the bhakti context for the entire vibhūti catalogue: the vibhūtis are not dry philosophy but the faces of the Beloved seen everywhere by the one who loves. The more the devotee knows the Beloved's manifestations, the more alive and omnipresent the devotion becomes.
Karma-Yoga lens
V1 for karma yoga: the vibhūti knowledge that follows is what grounds the karma yogi's 'see the divine everywhere' practice. When V10.20-V42 shows that the divine IS the excellence in every domain, the karma yogi's mad-arpaṇam (offering all action to the divine) becomes not abstract but specific: offering to the divine who is the vitality in every living being (V10.22), the excellence in the excellent (V10.36), the seed of all (V10.39).
Modern parallels
V1's structure (practice instruction → knowledge instruction → deepened practice) parallels modern learning science's evidence-based learning cycles: procedural knowledge (how to do) + declarative knowledge (what you're doing/why) together produce deeper learning than either alone. The Gita's Ch.9 (procedural) + Ch.10 (declarative) alternation is pedagogically sophisticated.
Practice
V1 opening practice: sit and receive hita-kāmyayā — 'this is spoken to you out of desire for your welfare.' Feel the teaching coming toward you in love, not obligation. Then prīyamāṇāya — bring your love toward the teaching. Open with delight: 'Again — what will I hear now?' Let V1's receptivity quality settle for 3-5 minutes before reading further in Ch.10.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
[V1 index corrupted in OCR] — The Blessed Lord said: Again, O mighty-armed, listen to My supreme word, which I, wishing thy welfare, will declare to thee who art delighted. [4]
Hear again, O thou of mighty arms, my supreme words, which unto thee who art well pleased I will declare because I am anxious for thy welfare. [6]
Hear farther yet, thou Long-Armed Lord! these latest words I say— / Uttered to bring thee bliss and peace, who lovest Me alway— [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Fix mind on Me, be My devotee, worship Me, bow to Me — thus, with Me as supreme goal, you shall come to Me.
Mind-in-Me, devotee, worshiper, bow to Me — you will come to Me; truly I promise, you are dear to Me.
For those freed from desire and anger, with controlled minds, knowing the Self — brahma-nirvāṇa exists on all sides.
Among weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows, Kāmadhuk; among progenitors, Kāmadeva; among serpents, Vāsuki.
Darkness, inertness, heedlessness, and delusion arise — know that tamas is predominant.
Driven by insatiable kāma, hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, gripping false notions through moha — impure resolves.