FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 18.74

ఇత్యహం వాసుదేవస్య పార్థస్య చ మహాత్మన: । సంవాదమిమమశ్రౌషమద్భుతం రోమహర్షణమ్ ॥ ౭౪ ॥
sañjaya uvāca
[sanjaya uvaacha]
ity ahaṁ vāsudevasya
[ity aham vaasudevasya]
pārthasya ca mahātmanaḥ
[paarthasya cha mahaatmanah]
saṁvādam imam aśrauṣam
[samvaadam imam ashrausham]
adbhutaṁ roma-harṣaṇam
[adbhutam roma-harshanam]
Word-for-word
sañjayaḥ uvāca — Sañjaya said iti — thus aham — I vāsudevasya — of Kṛṣṇa pārthasya — and Arjuna ca — also mahā - ātmanaḥ — of the great soul saṁvādam — discussion imam — this aśrauṣam — have heard adbhutam — wonderful roma - harṣaṇam — making the hair stand on end .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sañjaya uvāca
sañjayaḥ uvāca
Sañjaya said
ity ahaṁ vāsudevasya
iti
thus
aham
I
vāsudevasya
of Kṛṣṇa
pārthasya ca mahātmanaḥ
pārthasya
and Arjuna
ca
also
mahā - ātmanaḥ
of the great soul
saṁvādam imam aśrauṣam
saṁvādam
discussion
imam
this
aśrauṣam
have heard
adbhutaṁ roma-harṣaṇam
adbhutam
wonderful
roma - harṣaṇam
making the hair stand on end .
Important Words
  • vāsudevasya — of Kṛṣṇa
    Genitive. With pārthasya ca, Sañjaya names both speakers. The whole Gītā is framed as their two-voice exchange, and Sañjaya honors both by name.
  • mahā - ātmanaḥ — of the great soul
    Genitive compound. Applied here to Arjuna (or to both). Mahā-ātman — the title given to those who have surrendered their entire orientation to the Lord.
  • saṁvādam — the dialogue
    The genre-name for the Gītā throughout. Saṁ-vāda — speaking together. Not lecture, not treatise — *conversation*. The Bhāgavata tradition keeps insisting on this.
  • adbhutam — wonderful
    Adjective. Sañjaya's emotional verdict. The Gītā is adbhuta — wonder-producing. The verse is one of the Gītā's own attestations to its rasa-effect on the hearer.
  • roma - harṣaṇam — making the hair stand on end
    Compound noun. The standard Sanskrit phrase for ecstatic physical response. The Gītā produces bodily *rapture* in the qualified hearer. Sañjaya's body verifies what his mind has registered.
Sañjaya said: Thus have I heard the conversation of two great souls, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. And so wonderful is that message that my hair is standing on end.
Purport

In the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā, Dhṛtarāṣṭra inquired from his secretary Sañjaya, “What happened on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra?” The entire study was related to the heart of Sañjaya by the grace of his spiritual master, Vyāsa. He thus explained the theme of the battlefield. The conversation was wonderful because such an important conversation between two great souls had never taken place before and would not take place again. It was wonderful because the Supreme Personality of Godhead was speaking about Himself and His energies to the living entity, Arjuna, a great devotee of the Lord. If we follow in the footsteps of Arjuna to understand Kṛṣṇa, then our life will be happy and successful. Sañjaya realized this, and as he began to understand it, he related the conversation to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Now it is concluded that wherever there is Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, there is victory.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
74. Saṣjaya said: Thus I have heard this remarkable, hair-raising conversation between Vāsudeva and the son of Pṛthā, a great devotee of the Lord.
Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
74. Saṣjaya said: Thus I have heard this remarkable, hair-raising conversation between Vāsudeva and the son of Pṛthā, a great devotee of the Lord.
Commentary

The scripture is concluded. Saṣjaya speaks to Dhṛtarāṣṭra to finish the story. This discourse is astonishing to the consciousness (adbhūtam), because it has never appeared before among men. It has caused my body hair to stand on end (romaharṣaṇam).

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Sanjaya relates his experience of the whole conversation: “Hairs standing on end”

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
18.74 Aham, I; iti, thus; asrausam, heard; imam, this; samvadam, conversation, as has been narrated; vasudevasya, of Vasudeva; and mahatmanah, parthasya, of the great-soulded Partha; which is adbhutam, unie, extremely wonderful; and roma-harsanam, makes one's hair stand on end.
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
18.74 Sanjaya said Thus, in this way have I been hearing, this wondrous and thrilling dialogue, as it took place between Vasudeva, the son of Vasudeva, and His paternal aunt's son Arjuna, who is a Mahatman, one possessed of a great intelligence, and who has resorted to the feet of Sri Krsna.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
18.74 See Comment under 18.78
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
18.74 Sanjaya said Thus I have heard this wonderful dialogue between Krishna and the high-souled Arjuna, which causes the hair to stand on end.
Commentary

18.74 इति thus? अहम् I? वासुदेवस्य of Krishna? पार्थस्य of Arjuna? च and? महात्मनः highsouled? संवादम् dialogue? इमम् this? अश्रौषम् (I) have heard? अद्भुतम् wonderful? रोमहर्षणम् which causes the hair to stand on end.Commentary Wonderful because it deals with Yoga and transcendental spiritual matters that pertain to the mysterious immortal Self.Whenever good? higher emotions manifest themselves in the heart the hair stands on end. Devotees often experience this horripilation.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
18.74 Sanjaya said I thus heard this conversation of Vasudeva and of the great-souled Partha, which is unie and makes one's hair stand on end.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
18.74 Sanjaya told: "Thus have I heard this rare, wonderful and soul-stirring discourse of the Lord Shri Krishna and the great-souled Arjuna.
Related values & verses
Related values
Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomVinaya (Humility / Modesty)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)
Related verses
BG 11.35 BG 1.1 BG 11.50 SB 1.4.4 SB 1.1.1 SB 10.90.50 CC Antya 5.88 CC Madhya 25.264 CC Antya 1.207 BRS 2.3.16 Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.7.1
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Sañjaya says: I have heard this wonderful conversation between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna — and my hair stands on end.
Practical Applications
  • Honor the body's response to sacred conversation.
  • Trust the recipient's experience as testimony.
  • Cultivate the receptivity that hears wonder.
Reflection Questions
  • When did sacred conversation last give me goosebumps?
  • What conditions support that receptivity?
Analogy

The witness, watching from a great distance, has his hair stand on end as he registers the magnitude of what he has just overheard. Sañjaya is exactly such a witness — and his physical response is one of the Gītā's testimonies to its own power.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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