Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Karma Sannyasa YogaChapter 4, Shloka 5 (4.5)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
श्रीभगवानुवाच
बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन
तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप
॥ 4.5 ॥
bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna
tānyahaṃ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṃ vettha parantapa
Translation
"The Blessed Lord said: O Arjuna! Many births of mine and of yours too have passed. I know them all, (but) you do not know them, O Parantapa."
Interpretation
Knowing and not knowing. Both have had many births — but the difference is in memory and knowledge: Krishna knows them all, Arjuna does not.
Shankaracharya — why? Arjuna does not know because dharmādharmādi-pratibaddha-jñāna-śaktitvāt — his power of knowing is covered by merit, sin and the like. Krishna knows because nitya-śuddha-buddha-mukta-svabhāvatvāt anāvaraṇa-jñāna-śaktiḥ — owing to his nature, eternally pure, awakened and free, there is no covering over his power of knowing. And Shankara raises the next question: how can the eternal Lord, who has no merit or sin, be born? — the answer is in 4.6.
Acharya Ramanuja — the birth is real. Anena janmanaḥ satyatvam uktam — this verse declares the reality of the birth: by saying "many births of mine have passed", and by taking tava ca — "of yours too" — as an illustration. That is, just as Arjuna's births are real, so are Krishna's — not false, not magic. (The difference lies in the manner of birth — 4.6.)
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.