Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 4

अर्जुन उवाच । अपरं भवतो जन्म परं जन्म विवस्वतः । कथमेतद्विजानीयां त्वमादौ प्रोक्तवानिति

arjuna uvāca | aparaṃ bhavato janma paraṃ janma vivasvataḥ | kathametadvijānīyāṃ tvamādau proktavāniti

Translation

Later is Thy birth, and prior the birth of Vivasvat; how am I to understand that Thou taughtest this Yoga in the beginning?

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

aparam

later

bhavataḥ

of thee

janma

the birth

param

earlier

janma

the birth

vivasvataḥ

of Vivasvān

katham

how

etat

this

vijānīyām

may (I) understand

tvam

thou

ādau

in the beginning

proktavān

declaredst

iti

thus

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Thy birth is later, in the house of Vasudeva; Vivasvat's (Āditya's) birth is prior, in the beginning of evolution; how, then, am I to reconcile the statements that Thou taughtest this Yoga in the beginning to Vivasvat, and that Thou, the self-same person, hast now taught it to me?