To know Arjuna’s understanding, we need to look at his words in the Gita. Arjuna’s words fall in four categories: 

  • Questions, which he asks throughout the Gita 
  • Resolve to act (18.73), which he makes after hearing the full Gita
  • Prayers (11.36-46), which he offers on beholding the universal form 
  • Declarative statements (10.12-15), which he makes after hearing the Chatur-Shloki Gita (10.08-11)

Among these, the first two categories mostly contain brief statements. Regarding the prayers, skeptics who claim that Krishna is different from the ultimate divinity may downplay the prayers by arguing that those prayers describe universal form, not Krishna. Actually, it is Krishna’s universal form — by his will, he reveals it and he conceals it; therefore, the attributes of the universal form are ultimately Krishna’s attributes. Nonetheless, let’s focus on Arjuna’s declarative statements which he speaks while facing Krishna and addressing him in an unambiguous second-person. 

First (10.12), Arjuna uses ten describers to assert that Krishna is the ultimate reality. Supporting his assertion (10.13), he refers to the testimony of several sages from whom he has heard earlier as well as Krishna’s self-testimony in the Gita. Thereafter (10.14), he proclaims that he accepts all of Krishna’s words, while acknowledging that Krishna’s personality can’t be understood even by the gods and the anti-gods. Concluding his declarative statements (10.15), Arjuna states that Krishna alone knows his own glories and re-asserts Krishna’s supreme position by using four divine epithets.  

Nothing in any of these words suggests that Arjuna considers the highest reality to be anything other than Krishna. Arjuna does acknowledge the difficulty in understanding how Krishna, the seemingly-finite person standing next to him, can be the supreme divinity. But by stating that this difficulty confronts even celestial beings, he indicates that the difficulty is universal: it arises when the finite strives to understand the infinite; in no way does it justify the claim that the infinite is anything other than Krishna. 

One-sentence summary:

Arjuna’s declarative statements convey his unambiguous acceptance of Krishna as the supreme reality. 

Think it over: 

  • Which broad categories can Arjuna’s words in the Gita be classified into?
  • Which of Arjuna’s words reveal his understanding of Krishna’s position most clearly?
  • What do Arjuna’s declarative statements reveal about Krishna?

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10.15: Indeed, You alone know Yourself by Your own internal potency, O Supreme Person, origin of all, Lord of all beings, God of gods, Lord of the universe!

How can we know Arjuna’s understanding of Krishna’s position?

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