यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः । तत्र श्रीर् विजयो भूतिर् ध्रुवा नीतिर् मतिर् मम ॥
yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇo yatra pārtho dhanur-dharaḥ | tatra śrīr vijayo bhūtir dhruvā nītir matir mama ||
Where yogeśvara Kṛṣṇa is, where archer Pārtha stands — there abide fortune, victory, flourishing, and steadfast dharma.
Word by word (3)
- yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇo yatra pārtho dhanur-dharaḥ
- — yatra… yatra = wherever… wherever (the double yatra creates a universal conditional — not 'in this particular battle' but wherever these two are found, in any time/place/circumstance); yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇaḥ = Krishna the Lord of Yoga (yogeśvara — the same title used by Sañjaya in V75; here it is the closing identification of Krishna: not just the divine charioteer but the Lord/Master of all yoga); Pārthaḥ dhanur-dharaḥ = Arjuna the bearer/wielder of the bow (dhanur = bow; dharaḥ = bearer/wielder; Arjuna defined by his instrument — the bow — the very bow he had dropped at Ch.1 V47)
- tatra śrīr vijayo bhūtir dhruvā nītiḥ
- — tatra = there (wherever those two are, there this follows): śrīḥ = fortune/prosperity/divine grace (Śrī/Lakṣmī — the goddess of auspiciousness, abundance; the highest boon in the Vedic value system); vijayaḥ = victory (both inner — over moha/delusion — and outer — in righteous action); bhūtiḥ = welfare/expansion/flourishing (bhū = to become/be; the fullness of life); dhruvā nītiḥ = firm/steadfast policy/statecraft (dhruva = fixed/unfailing; nīti = guidance, right conduct, statecraft — the Gita's teaching as the ground of reliable right action). Four goods: Śrī, vijaya, bhūti, dhruvā nīti.
- matir mama
- — matiḥ = opinion/conviction/understanding (from man = to think; mati = the conclusion of considered thought); mama = my (genitive of aham — first person Sañjaya's own declaration). These two words close the Gita: 'This is my conviction.' Sañjaya speaks as a witness, a transmitter, a devotee, and now as a person of wisdom — the one who has heard 700 verses and whose considered conclusion (matiḥ) is this four-fold cosmic promise. The Gita closes not with a formula but with a human being's personal testimony.
Wherever is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, and wherever is Pārtha (Arjuna), the wielder of the bow — there shall be fortune (Śrī), victory (vijaya), welfare/expansion (bhūti), and steadfast right conduct (dhruvā nīti). This is my conviction (matir mama).
A modern analogy
V78 is the Gita's final equation: wherever Krishna (the Divine Wisdom/Yoga) + Arjuna (the human who has heard, understood, and resolved to act) meet — the result is always fortune, victory, growth, and reliable right conduct. The Gita has always been about this union: the Divine teaching and the human receiving. When that union is complete — when the yogeśvara's wisdom meets the dhanur-dharaḥ's readiness — the world is transformed. V78 says: wherever this union happens, in any time or place, the same four fruits flower.
V78 is the Gita's closing śloka (verse) — spoken by Sañjaya as the final word of his testimony to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. It summarises the Gita's entire promise: when the Divine (yogeśvara Krishna) and the transformed human (Pārtho dhanur-dharaḥ — Arjuna the restored archer) are together, four goods arise: Śrī (fortune), vijaya (victory), bhūti (flourishing), dhruvā nīti (reliable right conduct). The verse is universal — not restricted to Kurukṣetra but applicable wherever this union of wisdom and action exists. Sañjaya's matir mama (my conviction) grounds it in human testimony: this is what one wise witness concludes after hearing the entire Gita.
The Gita opens (Ch.1 V1) with dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre — the field of dharma. It closes (V78) with dhruvā nītiḥ — steadfast right conduct/policy. The field of dharma is wherever the right conditions obtain: yogeśvara + dhanur-dharaḥ. The four fruits mirror four aspects of the good life: Śrī = abundance/grace, vijaya = effectiveness/achievement, bhūti = welfare/expansion, nīti = moral and practical wisdom. Notably, the Gita does not promise these to the renunciant alone but to the yogeśvara-guided actor — dharmic action in the world produces these fruits. This is the karma-yoga resolution in a single verse.
Advaita lens
For Advaita Vedānta, V78 operates on two levels simultaneously. The empirical level: Krishna as guru + Arjuna as sādhu-śiṣya (qualified student) → right dharmic outcomes in the world. The transcendental level: yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇaḥ = Brahman-as-Yoga-Lord; pārtho dhanur-dharaḥ = jīvātman who has recovered smṛti (V73) and acts from the ground of Brahman-recognition. Wherever Brahman is recognised (yogeśvara) AND the liberated jīva acts (dhanur-dharaḥ) from that recognition — Śrī/vijaya/bhūti/nīti arise as the natural fruits of dharmic action rooted in truth. The Advaita reading: the Gita begins in ignorance (Ch.1), dissolves ignorance through teaching (Ch.2-17), and closes with the four fruits of wisdom-in-action (V78).
Bhakti lens
For bhakti, V78 is the supreme promise of the devoted alliance: where the Beloved (yogeśvara Krishna) and the surrendered devotee (Arjuna who has said kariṣye vacanaṃ tava) are united — the cosmos flowers. Śrī = Lakṣmī, the goddess of grace and abundance, always accompanies Viṣṇu/Krishna; wherever Krishna is, Śrī is. Vijaya = the devotee's action is victorious because it is guided by the Divine. Bhūti = the world flourishes when devotion guides action. Dhruvā nīti = the policy that emerges from the devotee's guidance by the Divine is steadfast, reliable, dharmic — it cannot fail because it is rooted in the Divine's own teaching. V78 is bhakti's cosmic promise: the union of the Lord and the devotee is the most powerful force in creation.
Karma-Yoga lens
V78 is karma yoga's ultimate validation. The entire Gita's karma-yoga teaching — naiṣkarmya through non-attachment, mac-citta (Ch.18 V57), kariṣye vacanaṃ tava (V73) — culminates here: when the karma-yogī acts from yogeśvara-guidance (Divine wisdom as the ground of action) rather than from personal ego or moha, the results are Śrī (abundance), vijaya (effectiveness), bhūti (flourishing), and dhruvā nīti (reliable ethical conduct). This is not magic — it is the natural consequence of acting from clarity (smṛti) without the distortion of moha. The karma-yogi who has completed the Gita's journey produces these four fruits as the natural byproduct of right action from right knowledge under Divine guidance.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Wherever is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, wherever is Arjuna, the archer, there fortune, victory, prosperity and polity are firm — this is my opinion. [1]
Wherever is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, wherever is Partha the archer, there are prosperity, victory, expansion and firm policy — this is my conviction. [4]
Wherever Krishna the Lord of Yoga is, wherever the son of Pritha who wields the bow is, there fortune, victory, prosperity, and firm policy — such is my conviction. [9]
Wherever Krishna the Lord of Yoga is, and wherever Arjuna the bowman is, there will exist prosperity, victory, happiness, and stable policy — this I believe. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
If you know the soul is indestructible — who kills whom?
No being — neither on earth nor among the devas in heaven — is free from these three guṇas born of Prakṛti.
The duties of Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras are distributed by the guṇas born of their own nature.
Brāhmaṇa dharma: śama, dama, tapas, purity, forbearance, uprightness, knowledge, wisdom, faith — born of svabhāva.
Endued with pure buddhi, regulating self with dhṛti, renouncing sense-objects, setting aside rāga-dveṣa —