Shloka 33

Devanagari script

चतुर्विधा मम जना भक्ता एव हि मे श्रुतम्‌

Transliteration

caturvidhā mama janā bhaktā eva hi me śrutam

Translation

Arjuna said: “I have heard that my people are of four kinds, and that they are indeed devoted to me.”

Word by Word

• चतुर्विधाः: fourfold, of four kinds
• चतुर्विधाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्विध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मम: of me, my
• मम: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• जनाः: people
• जनाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• भक्ताः: devotees
• भक्ताः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भक्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• एव: indeed, only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• हि: for, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• मे: of me, my
• मे: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• श्रुतम्: heard (it is heard/has been heard)
• श्रुतम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रुत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the idea that devotion and allegiance among one’s people can be understood in distinct types, implying that leadership and ethical governance must recognize differing motivations and modes of loyalty rather than treating all followers as identical.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna speaks, reporting what he has heard: that those connected with him are ‘fourfold’ and are devotees. It functions as a lead-in to a discussion about categories of followers/devotees and how such distinctions matter in counsel and moral reasoning.