Shloka 2

विभूति-योगः (Vibhūti-yoga) — Exemplary Manifestations as a Contemplative Index

Devanagari script

अधियज्ञ: कथं कोअत्र देहेडस्मिन्‌ मधुसूदन । प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोडसि नियतात्मभि:,हे मधुसूदन! यहाँ अधियज्ञ कौन है? और वह इस शरीरमें कैसे है? तथा युक्तचित्तवाले पुरुषोंद्वारा अन्त समयमें आप किस प्रकार जाननेमें आते हैं?

Transliteration

arjuna uvāca | adhiyajñaḥ kathaṁ ko 'tra dehe 'smin madhusūdana | prayāṇakāle ca kathaṁ jñeyo 'si niyatātmabhiḥ ||

Translation

Arjuna sprach: „O Madhusūdana, wer ist hier der ‘Adhiyajña’, und wie weilt Er in diesem Körper? Und zur Stunde des Scheidens — auf welche Weise sollst Du von den Selbstbeherrschten, in der Übung Standhaften, erkannt werden?“

Word by Word

अधियज्ञःthe one presiding over sacrifice (Adhiyajna)

कथम्how?

कःwho?

अत्रhere

देहेin the body

अस्मिन्in this

मधुसूदनO slayer of Madhu (Krishna)

प्रयाणकालेat the time of departure (death)

चand

कथम्how?

ज्ञेयःto be known / knowable

असिyou are

नियतात्मभिःby the self-controlled (disciplined-minded) ones

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Krishna (Madhusūdana)

Adhiyajña

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Arjuna seeks clarity on the divine dimension of yajña (Adhiyajña) and the practical spiritual method: how disciplined practitioners can recognize and remember the Lord at the moment of death—linking inner realization with the final ethical-spiritual test of one’s life.

What is happening in the narrative?

On the battlefield discourse, after hearing Kṛṣṇa’s teaching on Brahman, the self, and karma, Arjuna asks follow-up questions: who the Adhiyajña is, how that reality is present within embodied life, and how yogic, self-controlled persons know Kṛṣṇa at life’s end.