Shloka 128
Atithi-satkāra and the Consolation of Wise Counsel (अतिथिसत्कारः प्रज्ञानवचनस्य च पराश्वासनम्)
अहं प्रसादजस्तस्य कुतश्चित् कारणान्तरे । त्वं चैव क्रोधजस्तात पूर्वसर्गे सनातन:
ahaṁ prasādajas tasya kutaścit kāraṇāntare | tvaṁ caiva krodhajas tāta pūrvasarge sanātanaḥ ||
Arjuna said: “By some particular cause, my birth has arisen from the gracious favor of that Lord (Nārāyaṇa). And you too, dear father, are the eternal being who, in a former creation-cycle, came forth from that same Lord’s wrath.”
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames personal origin and identity as dependent on the divine will: some beings arise through the Lord’s grace, others through the Lord’s wrath, yet both are ultimately rooted in the same supreme source—encouraging humility and a theistic understanding of causality.
Arjuna addresses an elder as “father,” distinguishing their origins: he claims his own birth is due to Nārāyaṇa’s favor under some specific circumstance, while the other is described as an ancient, eternal being manifested in a prior creation from Nārāyaṇa’s wrath.