Gita 4.5
Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga
श्रीभगवानुवाच | बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन | तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप ||५||
śrī bhagavān uvāca | bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna | tāny ahaṁ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṁ vettha parantapa ||5||
In essence: Divine consciousness knows all its manifestations while ordinary consciousness forgets—this single difference between knowing and forgetting defines the gap between bondage and liberation.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "Krishna says both he and Arjuna have had many births. Does this mean the soul reincarnates?"
Guru: "Focus less on the metaphysics of reincarnation and more on the experiential point Krishna makes. What does it mean that he remembers and Arjuna doesn't?"
Sadhak: "That... consciousness can either know its continuity or not know it?"
Guru: "Precisely. Whether or not you accept literal rebirth, recognize this: right now, you experience yourself as limited to this body, this history, this identity. Something has been forgotten. What would it mean to remember?"
Sadhak: "I don't even know what I've forgotten. How can I remember something I don't know I've lost?"
Guru: "You can't remember it through effort—that would be trying to use the limited mind to reach beyond its limits. But you can create conditions where remembrance happens. This is what spiritual practice does—it thins the veil of forgetting."
Sadhak: "What causes this forgetting in the first place?"
Guru: "Consider: could you have the experience of being a particular individual without forgetting your universality? The 'I' that says 'I am Arjuna' depends on not simultaneously knowing 'I am everything.' Forgetting isn't a flaw; it's the mechanism that makes individual experience possible."
Sadhak: "But Krishna doesn't forget. How can he be an individual and also know his universality?"
Guru: "This is the mystery of divine incarnation. Krishna appears as a particular being—with a body, a name, a history—yet maintains awareness of his unbounded nature. He plays the role without being lost in it. This is what the next verse will elaborate: appearing through māyā while being unborn."
Sadhak: "Is it possible for an ordinary person to achieve this? To remember while still living as an individual?"
Guru: "This is exactly what the Gita offers. Liberation isn't abandoning individuality but seeing through it—continuing to function as a person while knowing oneself as more than a person. You don't stop being Arjuna; you stop believing Arjuna is all you are."
Sadhak: "The gap between Krishna's knowing and Arjuna's not-knowing seems unbridgeable."
Guru: "The gap isn't in nature but in awareness. Arjuna's essence is no different from Krishna's essence—both are eternal. The difference is that Krishna knows this while Arjuna doesn't. The gap is made of forgetting, not of substance. What's made of forgetting can be unmade by remembering."
Sadhak: "How do I begin to remember?"
Guru: "Notice moments when the sense of being a separate self temporarily thins—in deep absorption, in love, in presence with nature, in meditation. These glimpses aren't creating something new; they're allowing what's been covered to show through. The practice isn't adding remembrance but removing the density of forgetting. This teaching itself is part of that removal."
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🌅 Daily Practice
Upon waking, before the day's identity fully assembles, notice the simple sense of being aware. For a moment, you exist without the story of who you are. This contentless awareness—is it different today than yesterday? Does it have age? Before you remember your name, your history, your problems, there is simply awareness present. This is a taste of what Krishna points toward: knowing that persists regardless of what's forgotten. Throughout the day, see if you can return to this simple awareness beneath all the remembered content. It doesn't replace your identity; it reveals the deeper knowing that your identity arises within.
Notice moments when you 'forget yourself'—absorbed in work, lost in a conversation, immersed in nature. In these moments, the heavy sense of being a particular person temporarily lightens. This isn't unconsciousness; it's often peak awareness. What's forgotten is the constant self-referencing, not the knowing itself. These moments point toward a quality of awareness that doesn't depend on maintaining a personal narrative. When you return to self-consciousness, notice what gets added: stories, comparisons, worries. The knowing was there throughout; what returns is the forgetting of everything except the personal self. Practice recognizing this pattern repeatedly.
Before sleep, contemplate: what survives the transitions of your life? The body you have now is almost entirely different from the body of your childhood—cells have replaced cells. Your beliefs, preferences, relationships have all changed. Yet something seems continuous. What is that? Not your memories—they're unreliable and selective. Not your self-image—it's transformed many times. There's a witnessing presence that has been there through all changes, knowing each phase without being limited to it. This is what Krishna points toward. Rest in the recognition of this unchanging witness. As you approach sleep—a daily mini-death where personality dissolves—notice what knows even this dissolution. Something doesn't sleep.