इत्य् अहं वासुदेवस्य पार्थस्य च महात्मनः । संवादम् इमम् अश्रौषम् अद्भुतं रोमहर्षणम् ॥
ity ahaṃ vāsudevasya pārthasya ca mahātmanaḥ | saṃvādam imam aśrauṣam adbhutaṃ roma-harṣaṇam ||
Thus have I heard this wondrous hair-raising dialogue between Vāsudeva and the great-souled Pārtha — Sañjaya's witness.
Word by word (3)
- iti ahaṃ vāsudevasya pārthasya ca mahātmanaḥ
- — iti = thus (conclusion marker — closing the direct speech of both Krishna and Arjuna); aham = I (Sañjaya, now speaking again as the narrator to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, closing the frame narrative opened in Ch.1 V1); vāsudevasya = of Vāsudeva/Krishna (Vāsudeva = son of Vasudeva; Krishna's clan name; genitive); pārthasya = of Pārtha/Arjuna (son of Pṛthā/Kuntī; genitive); ca = and; mahātmanaḥ = of the great-souled/magnanimous one (mahā = great + ātman = soul)
- saṃvādam imam aśrauṣam
- — saṃvādam = dialogue/conversation (sam + vāda = together + speaking; the formal term for the Gita's teaching format — a dialogue, not a monologue); imam = this (pointing at the entire conversation just heard); aśrauṣam = I heard (aorist/perfect of śru = to hear; first person: I have heard — Sañjaya's witnessing role confirmed; per Ch.18 V75, this hearing was through Vyāsa's grace)
- adbhutaṃ roma-harṣaṇam
- — adbhutam = wonderful/marvellous/astonishing (one of the nine rasas; from a-dbhuta = the astonishing, beyond ordinary comprehension); roma-harṣaṇam = causing the hair to stand on end (roma = body hair; harṣaṇa = causing to bristle/thrill; the somatic/physical sign of profound spiritual and aesthetic experience — the same response that great music or the Viśvarūpa evoked); Sañjaya's witness has been a full-body experience of the Gita
Thus have I (Sañjaya) heard this wonderful, hair-raising (roma-harṣaṇam) dialogue between Vāsudeva (Krishna) and the great-souled Pārtha (Arjuna).
A modern analogy
V74 is Sañjaya closing his witness report to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. The entire Gita has been spoken through Sañjaya's divinely-granted hearing (Vyāsa's gift). Now, as the dialogue ends, Sañjaya steps forward from behind the curtain of reporting and shares his own response: adbhutam (astonishing) and roma-harṣaṇam (my hair stood on end). The reporter who has perfectly transmitted the teaching is also personally transformed by it — no one hears the Gita unmoved.
V74 marks the return of Sañjaya as narrator and the closure of the inner frame (the Gita dialogue) within the outer frame (Sañjaya reporting to Dhṛtarāṣṭra). The Mahabharata's structure: Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks (Ch.1 V1) → Sañjaya narrates the battle → the Gita dialogue is Krishna/Arjuna (inner frame) → V74-V78 = Sañjaya's closing testimony (return to outer frame). The Gita is thus embedded in two layers of reported speech, yet it speaks directly to every reader — a teaching that transcends its narrative container.
Roma-harṣaṇam as Sañjaya's testimony is significant: he received the teaching through Vyāsa's seer-vision, yet his response is not detached analysis but bhāva (felt response) — awe, wonder, hair standing on end. This confirms the Gita's integrity as both śāstra (philosophical text) and as sacred speech that moves the whole being. Sañjaya heard every word of the Gita — 700 verses — and his conclusion is adbhutam roma-harṣaṇam. The teaching was not merely instructive; it was overwhelming.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Thus have I heard this wonderful and hair-raising dialogue between Vasudeva and the high-souled Partha. [1]
Thus have I heard this wonderful and hair-raising dialogue between Vasudeva and the high-souled Partha. [4]
Thus have I heard this wonderful and thrilling dialogue between Vasudeva and the high-souled Partha. [9]
Thus have I heard this wonderful and hair-raising dialogue between Vasudeva and the great-souled son of Pritha. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
Who measures others' joy and pain by the standard of their own — seeing the same everywhere — is the supreme yogi.
Past practice carries the yogi forward involuntarily — even the yoga-inquirer surpasses the Vedic ritualist.
Three gates to hell, destructive of the self: kāma, krodha, lobha. Therefore abandon this triad.
Duryodhana lists his greatest champions — and every name carries its own tragic irony.