Verse 4.2
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
एवं परम्पराप्राप्तमिमं राजर्षयो विदुः। स कालेनेह महता योगो नष्टः परन्तप।।
Transliteration (IAST)
evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ sa kāleneha mahatā yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa
Word-by-Word Meanings
paramparā-disciplic succession
rājarṣayaḥ-the saintly kings
viduḥ-understood
kālena-in course of time
naṣṭaḥ-lost/scattered
parantapa-O scorcher of foes
Translation
This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science appears to be lost.
Commentary
Krishna explains why this eternal knowledge needs to be re-established periodically. The rājarṣis (royal sages) were both rulers and spiritual practitioners, showing that spiritual knowledge and worldly duty are not incompatible. Time degrades all transmitted knowledge without proper custodianship.
Themes
jnanatimedharma