04.04 Arjuna’s fifth question – In the Bhagavad-gita’s fourth chapter, when Krishna states that he gave spiritual knowledge long ago to the solar deity, that statement raises a natural question in Arjuna’s mind: How could Krishna, who is contemporary to him, have instructed the solar deity, who is far older to both of them? 

Still, Arjuna doesn’t immediately voice that question — he politely waits to check if Krishna will address it in his subsequent statements. After waiting for two verses, when he senses that Krishna is about to move on to another point, he asks his question (04.04). In response, Krishna explains his divinity over the next ten verses (04.05-14). He spoke to the sun god in a previous birth, and being the Supreme, he is not overcome by the forgetfulness that afflicts all living beings during transmigration (04.05). 

Significant is Arjuna’s phrasing of his question: “How am I to understand this?” (katham etad vijaniyam). This way of questioning reflects a healthy blend of disarming humility and piercing curiosity. Humility because Arjuna isn’t dismissing Krishna’s statement by calling it impossible or fantastical; and he is placing the onus for incomprehension on himself, not on Krishna. Simultaneously, he is not just blindly accepting a point that is questionable. Though he has himself submitted to Krishna (02.07), that doesn’t mean he just gives up his intelligence; he still asks a critical question without being disrespectful. 

Arjuna’s mode of questioning can be instructive today, wherein people often veer toward one of two extremes: some become blinded adherents of some ideology such as leftism or religious extremism, while others become blinded rejectors of all ideologies, without realizing that they are simply adhering to the ideology of rabid skepticism. 

One-sentence summary: 

Use our God-given intelligence to find a trustworthy authority and to understand that authority’s message, thus avoiding both blind defiance and blind adherence. 

Think it over: 

  • What is special about Arjuna’s question in the fourth chapter? Why?
  • Why is Arjuna’s mode of questioning relevant?
  • What is your default attitude toward authority? How can you make that attitude more balanced? 

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04.04: Arjuna said: The sun-god Vivasvan is senior by birth to You. How am I to understand that in the beginning You instructed this science to him?

 

04.04 Arjuna’s fifth question

To know more about this verse, please click on the image