10.2 Not even the seers know Krishna speaks
न मे विदुः सुरगणाः प्रभवं न महर्षयः
अहमादिर्हि देवानां महर्षीणां च सर्वशः
na me viduḥ sura-gaṇāḥ prabhavaṁ na maharṣhayaḥ
aham ādir hi devānāṁ maharṣhīṇāṁ cha sarvaśhaḥ
Neither the hosts of gods nor the great seers know my origin. I am the source of the gods and of the great seers, in every way.
Explanation
Not even the gods and the seers know.
They do not know his origin — and the reason is given in the same breath: he is the source of both.
Which is the structural point rather than a boast. Nothing can locate what it came out of, so the ignorance is not a failure of theirs but a consequence of position.
Word by word
- na
- neither
- me
- my
- viduḥ
- know
- sura-gaṇāḥ
- the celestial gods
- prabhavam
- origin
- na
- nor
- mahā-ṛiṣhayaḥ
- the great sages
- aham
- I
- ādiḥ
- the source
- hi
- certainly
- devānām
- of the celestial gods
- mahā-ṛiṣhīṇām
- of the great seers
- cha
- also
- sarvaśhaḥ
- in every way
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