Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 43
पितासि लोकस्य चराचरस्य
त्वमस्य पूज्यश्च गुरुर्गरीयान्।
न त्वत्समोऽस्त्यभ्यधिकः कुतोऽन्यो
लोकत्रयेऽप्यप्रतिमप्रभाव।।
त्वमस्य पूज्यश्च गुरुर्गरीयान्।
न त्वत्समोऽस्त्यभ्यधिकः कुतोऽन्यो
लोकत्रयेऽप्यप्रतिमप्रभाव।।
pitāsi lokasya carācarasya
tvam asya pūjyaś ca gurur garīyān
na tvat-samo ’sty abhyadhikaḥ kuto ’nyo
loka-traye ’py apratima-prabhāva
also searched as "Pitasi lokasya characharasya"
Translation
You are the father of this world, of all that moves and does not move. You are its teacher and the one most worthy of reverence. There is none equal to You. How then could there be in the three worlds another greater than You, O Being of matchless greatness?
Vāṇi's rendering
You are father of all that moves and does not, its highest teacher. None equals you — who could surpass you?
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| पिताpitā | father |
| असिasi | you are (joined to pitā as pitāsi) |
| लोकस्यlokasya | of the world |
| चराचरस्यcarācarasya | of what moves and what does not move |
| त्वम्tvam | you |
| अस्यasya | of this (world) |
| पूज्यःpūjyaḥ | the one worthy of worship |
| चca | and |
| गुरुःguruḥ | teacher |
| गरीयान्garīyān | weightier, greater than any other |
| नna | not |
| त्वत्समःtvat-samaḥ | equal to you |
| अस्तिasti | there is (joined as tvatsamo 'sty) |
| अभ्यधिकःabhyadhikaḥ | one who exceeds, greater still |
| कुतःkutaḥ | from where, how then |
| अन्यःanyaḥ | another (joined as kuto 'nyo) |
| लोकत्रयेloka-traye | in the three worlds |
| अपिapi | even (joined as traye 'py) |
| अप्रतिमप्रभावapratima-prabhāva | O you whose power has no likeness anywhere |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 43 mean?
Arjuna names Krishna father of everything that moves and everything that stands still, and teacher weightier than any teacher. Then he asks the question that closes the matter: if none is equal, how could anyone be greater? It is not flattery. It is a man finally measuring what he has been sitting beside.
What does the line pitasi lokasya characharasya mean?
You are the father of the world, of the moving and the unmoving. Carācara holds both — the running deer and the mountain it runs past. Krishna is not father of living things only. He is the source of the still things too, which is why nothing in the vision Arjuna saw stood outside him.
Why does Arjuna call Krishna both father and teacher here?
A father gives you your existence; a teacher gives you what to do with it. Arjuna has received both from the same person and is only now seeing it. Guruḥ garīyān — weightier than any teacher. The relationship did not change in this verse. Arjuna's eyes did.
How can I apply this verse in my life?
Reverence usually waits for distance. We honour what is far and take for granted what shares our meals. Arjuna's whole verse is a correction of that habit, made at eleven chapters' cost. Look once, deliberately, at whoever has been carrying you closest — before some vision has to force it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna has just called Krishna friend and apologized for it. Now he reaches for a word large enough — father. Not maker of the world only, but of all that moves and all that does not: the bird and the stone alike. And then teacher, the one owed reverence. Notice the order. The chariot companion he joked with, ate beside, slept near, has become the one beyond comparison. Nothing was hidden from him; he simply had not looked. The people closest to you are the ones you see least clearly. Love does not always know what it is standing next to until it is shown.