Chapter 10 · Shloka 14— The Yoga of Divine Glories

sarvam etad ṛitaṁ manye yan māṁ vadasi keśhava na hi te bhagavan vyaktiṁ vidur devā na dānavāḥ

sarvam

— everything

etat

— this

ṛitam

— truth

manye

— I accept

yat

— which

mām

— me

vadasi

— you tell

keśhava

— Shree Krishna, the killer of the demon named Keshi

na

— neither

hi

— verily

te

— your

bhagavan

— the Supreme Lord

vyaktim

— personality

viduḥ

— can understand

devāḥ

— the celestial gods

na

— nor

dānavāḥ

— the demons

"Sarvam etad rtam manye yan mam vadasi kesava, na hi te bhagavan vyaktim vidur deva na danavah." — I accept as true all that You tell me, O Keshava. Indeed, O Blessed Lord, neither the gods nor the demons know Your manifestation. Arjuna expresses his complete acceptance and faith in Krishna's teaching, while acknowledging its unfathomable depth. 'Sarvam etad rtam manye yan mam vadasi kesava' — I accept as true (rtam, real, valid) all (sarvam) that You tell me, O Keshava. Arjuna's faith is now full and settled; he embraces the teaching completely. Then he acknowledges the mystery: 'na hi te bhagavan vyaktim vidur deva na danavah' — indeed, O Blessed Lord, neither the gods (devas) nor the demons (danavas) know Your manifestation (vyakti) — your true nature, how you manifest and exist. This echoes 10.2: even the most powerful beings cannot fully comprehend the Divine. Shankaracharya notes the beautiful combination in Arjuna here: full faith and acceptance, joined with humble acknowledgment of mystery. Arjuna does not claim to fully understand; rather, he accepts the teaching as true while recognizing that its depth exceeds even the comprehension of gods and demons. Faith and humility coexist. This verse models a mature relationship to the deepest truths: wholehearted acceptance combined with humble acknowledgment that the full depth exceeds complete comprehension. Arjuna doesn't pretend to have mastered the mystery; he simply accepts the teaching as true and admits that its full nature is beyond even the greatest beings. The insight is balanced: you can wholeheartedly accept and live by a profound truth without claiming to have exhaustively understood it. In fact, the deepest truths are precisely those you trust and live by while acknowledging they exceed your full grasp. Faith doesn't require complete comprehension; mature faith embraces the truth while humbly admitting its inexhaustible depth. You can stand firmly on something while still bowing before its mystery.

Arjuna models a mature relationship to deep truth: wholehearted acceptance combined with humble acknowledgment that the full depth exceeds anyone's complete comprehension. He accepts the teaching as true AND admits its nature is beyond even the greatest beings. This is a sophisticated and valuable stance. We often assume you must either fully understand something to accept it, or reject it entirely — that you can't sincerely embrace what you can't completely explain. But Arjuna shows a third way: you can wholeheartedly accept and live by a profound truth WHILE acknowledging it exceeds your full grasp. In fact, the deepest truths are precisely those you trust and live by while recognizing they're bigger than your understanding. This applies broadly: you don't fully understand love, consciousness, or existence itself — yet you live by them, trust them, build your life on them. Mature faith (in anything deep) doesn't demand complete comprehension as a prerequisite; it embraces the truth while bowing before its inexhaustible mystery. You can stand firmly on something AND remain humble before its depth. Certainty and humility aren't opposites.

Arjuna models a genuinely mature relationship to deep truth: wholehearted acceptance combined with humble acknowledgment that the full depth exceeds anyone's complete understanding. He accepts the teaching as true AND admits its nature is beyond even the greatest beings. This is a sophisticated, valuable stance. We tend to assume you must EITHER fully understand something to accept it, OR reject it entirely — that you can't sincerely embrace what you can't completely explain. Arjuna shows a third way: you can wholeheartedly accept and live by a profound truth WHILE admitting it exceeds your full grasp. In fact, the deepest truths are exactly the ones you trust and live by while recognizing they're bigger than your understanding. This applies everywhere: you don't fully understand love, consciousness, or existence itself — yet you live by them, trust them, build your whole life on them. Mature faith (in anything deep) doesn't demand complete comprehension first; it embraces the truth while bowing before its inexhaustible mystery. You can stand firmly on something AND stay humble before its depth. Certainty and humility aren't actually opposites.

Arjuna says something wise and humble: 'I believe everything You tell me is true — AND I know that even the gods and other powerful beings can't fully understand Your amazing nature!' Look at the beautiful balance: Arjuna fully accepts the teaching with faith, but he's also humble enough to admit it's bigger than anyone can completely understand! This teaches us something cool: you can fully believe in and live by something wonderful, even if you can't completely understand every bit of it! Think about love, or the vast universe — you don't understand them completely, but you can still trust them and find them wonderful! Being sure about something AND being humble about its mystery can go together. You can stand strong on what's true while still feeling amazed by how deep and mysterious it is!