Bg. 4.3 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

स एवायं मया तेऽद्य योगः प्रोक्तः पुरातनः । भक्तोऽसि मे सखा चेति रहस्यं ह्येतदुत्तमम् ॥ ३ ॥

Verse text

sa evāyaṁ mayā te ’dya yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ bhakto ’si me sakhā ceti rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam

Synonyms

saḥ — the same ; eva — certainly ; ayam — this ; mayā — by Me ; te — unto you ; adya — today ; yogaḥ — the science of yoga ; proktaḥ — spoken ; purātanaḥ — very old ; bhaktaḥ — devotee ; asi — you are ; me — My ; sakhā — friend ; ca — also ; iti — therefore ; rahasyam — mystery ; hi — certainly ; etat — this ; uttamam — transcendental.

Translation

That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

3. As you are My devotee and friend, I have spoken this yoga, the ultimate secret, unto you today.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

3. As you are My devotee and friend, I have spoken this ancient yoga, unto you, because it is the most secret.

Purport

There are two classes of men, namely the devotee and the demon. The Lord selected Arjuna as the recipient of this great science owing to his being a devotee of the Lord, but for the demon it is not possible to understand this great mysterious science. There are a number of editions of this great book of knowledge. Some of them have commentaries by the devotees, and some of them have commentaries by the demons. Commentation by the devotees is real, whereas that of the demons is useless. Arjuna accepts Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and any commentary on the Gītā following in the footsteps of Arjuna is real devotional service to the cause of this great science. The demonic, however, do not accept Lord Kṛṣṇa as He is. Instead they concoct something about Kṛṣṇa and mislead general readers from the path of Kṛṣṇa’s instructions. Here is a warning about such misleading paths. One should try to follow the disciplic succession from Arjuna, and thus be benefited by this great science of Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

In this verse, the Lord gives the reason for speaking this yoga to Arjuna. You are My devotee and My friend. Apart from these two reasons, He gives another reason for not speaking this to inferior persons: it is most secret.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

This ancient yoga which should be spoken in this line of succession has been spoken today by Me, a friend to you, who am very attached to you, unto you, a friend to Me, who are very attached to Me. Because you are My devotee, surrendered to Me, and a friend, I have spoken to you, and no one else, since (hi) it is the most secret (rahasyam uttamam), and therefore should be concealed.

Surrender Unto Me

It is also explained in the 15th Chapter that only a devotee can understand this science. [ 2 . Krsna can remember speaking Bhagavad‑gita in a previous birth because He is the unborn Lord who possesses a transcendental body that never deteriorates. (4‑6) ] Arjuna asks Krsna a question, he has a doubt.