18.78 Wherever these two are Sanjaya speaks
यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः
तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम
yatra yogeśhvaraḥ kṛiṣhṇo yatra pārtho dhanur-dharaḥ
tatra śhrīr vijayo bhūtir dhruvā nītir matir mama
Wherever Krishna is, the master of yoga, and wherever Arjuna is, the archer — there, I am certain, are fortune, victory, prosperity and steadfastness.
Explanation
The last verse is not Krishna's and not Arjuna's.
It is Sanjaya's — the narrator, reporting to a blind king who asked a question in 1.1 and has said nothing since.
Wherever these two are, there are fortune, victory, prosperity and steadfastness. The book that began with a man unable to see ends with a man telling him what he missed.
Going further
Word by word
- yatra
- wherever
- yoga-īśhvaraḥ
- Shree Krishna, the Lord of Yog
- kṛiṣhṇaḥ
- Shree Krishna
- yatra
- wherever
- pārthaḥ
- Arjun, the son of Pritha
- dhanuḥ-dharaḥ
- the supreme archer
- tatra
- there
- śhrīḥ
- opulence
- vijayaḥ
- victory
- bhūtiḥ
- prosperity
- dhruvā
- unending
- nītiḥ
- righteousness
- matiḥ mama
- my opinion
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The last verse is not Krishna's and not Arjuna's. It is Sanjaya's — the narrator, reporting to a blind king who asked a question in 1.1 and has not spoken since.
Wherever Krishna is and wherever Arjuna is, there are fortune, victory, prosperity and steadfastness. The book closes on the pair rather than on either of them: the one who sees and the one who acts, and the claim is that what matters is their being together.