Chapter 10 · Shloka 13— The Yoga of Divine Glories

āhus tvām ṛiṣhayaḥ sarve devarṣhir nāradas tathā asito devalo vyāsaḥ svayaṁ chaiva bravīṣhi me

āhuḥ

— (they) declare

tvām

— you

ṛiṣhayaḥ

— sages

sarve

— all

deva-ṛiṣhiḥ-nāradaḥ

— devarṣhi Narad

tathā

— also

asitaḥ

— Asit

devalaḥ

— Deval

vyāsaḥ

— Vyās

svayam

— personally

cha

— and

eva

— even

bravīṣhī

— you are declaring

me

— to me

Arjuna continues his praise: 'All the sages declare this of You, and so does the divine sage Narada, as well as Asita, Devala, and Vyasa; and You Yourself now tell me so.' Arjuna completes the praise begun in 10.12 by invoking the authority of the great sages. The supreme nature of Krishna that he has just praised (10.12) is, he notes, not merely his own personal conclusion. 'Ahuh tvam rsayah sarve' — all the sages (rsis) declare this of You. He names some of the greatest: 'devarsih naradah' (the divine sage Narada), 'asitah devalah' (the sages Asita and Devala), 'vyasah' (Vyasa, the great compiler of the scriptures). And finally: 'svayam ca eva bravisi me' — and You Yourself now tell me so directly. Shankaracharya notes that Arjuna here marshals multiple sources of authority for the truth he has recognized: the testimony of the greatest sages, the authority of revealed scripture (through Vyasa), and the direct word of Krishna himself. His recognition is confirmed from multiple directions — the wisdom tradition, the sages, and direct teaching all converge. This verse shows Arjuna grounding his newfound recognition in something larger than his own subjective experience. He notes that the wisest beings throughout the tradition have declared the same truth, and now Krishna confirms it directly. The insight is balanced and wise: genuine recognition is strengthened when it is confirmed from multiple independent sources. Arjuna doesn't rely solely on his own subjective feeling, nor solely on tradition, nor solely on the immediate teaching — he notes that all of them converge. When your own direct insight aligns with the testimony of the wisest people across time AND with reliable teaching, you can have well-grounded confidence. Truth confirmed from multiple directions — personal recognition, the wisdom of others, and reliable sources all agreeing — is truth you can stand on.

Arjuna grounds his newfound recognition not just in his own subjective feeling, but notes that it converges from multiple independent sources: the testimony of the greatest sages across the tradition, reliable scripture, AND Krishna's direct word. This models genuinely good epistemology — wise ways of knowing. The insight: genuine truth is strengthened when confirmed from multiple independent directions. Arjuna doesn't rely ONLY on his own feeling (which could be biased or mistaken), nor ONLY on tradition (which could be misunderstood), nor ONLY on one teacher — he notices they all align. This is exactly how to hold confident belief responsibly: when your own direct insight, the testimony of wise people across time, and reliable sources all converge on the same thing, you've got well-grounded confidence rather than mere opinion. In an age of misinformation and isolated echo chambers, this is valuable: don't trust just your gut alone, just one source alone, or just tradition alone — look for convergence. When multiple independent reliable sources point the same way, AND it matches your own honest experience, that's truth you can actually stand on.

Arjuna grounds his recognition not just in his own subjective feeling, but notes it converges from multiple independent sources: the testimony of the greatest sages across the tradition, reliable scripture, AND Krishna's direct word. This models genuinely good epistemology — wise ways of figuring out what's true. The insight: real truth gets stronger when confirmed from multiple independent directions. Arjuna doesn't rely ONLY on his own feeling (could be biased), nor ONLY on tradition (could be misread), nor ONLY on one teacher — he notices they all line up. This is exactly how to hold a confident belief responsibly: when your own direct insight, the testimony of wise people across time, AND reliable sources all converge on the same thing, you've got well-grounded confidence instead of just a vibe. In an age of misinformation and isolated echo chambers, this is genuinely valuable: don't trust just your gut alone, just one source alone, or just 'tradition' alone — look for convergence. When multiple independent reliable sources point the same way AND it matches your own honest experience, THAT's something you can actually stand on.

Arjuna continues praising Krishna, but he adds something smart: he points out that it's not just HIS own idea that Krishna is the supreme God — all the wisest sages have said the same thing, the holy scriptures say it, AND Krishna Himself confirms it! Arjuna is being wise about how he knows things: he checks that lots of different trustworthy sources all agree! That's a great lesson for figuring out what's true: don't just rely on one thing! When your own experience, what wise people say, AND reliable sources all point the same way, you can feel really confident it's true! It's like getting the same answer from your own thinking, your wise teacher, AND your textbook — then you really know! Checking that things line up from different directions is a smart way to find the truth!