Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 70
अध्येष्यते च य इमं धर्म्यं संवादमावयोः।ज्ञानयज्ञेन तेनाहमिष्टः स्यामिति मे मतिः।।
adhyeṣyate ca ya imaṁ dharmyaṁ saṁvādam āvayoḥ
jñāna-yajñena tenāham iṣṭaḥ syām iti me matiḥ
also searched as "adhyeshyate cha ya imam dharmyam samvadam avayoh"
Translation
And he who will study our dialogue, which is consistent with Dharma, by him I shall be worshipped through the sacrifice of knowledge; that is My view.
Vāṇi's rendering
And whoever studies this sacred conversation of ours has worshipped me with the offering of knowledge. So I hold.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अध्येष्यतेadhyeṣyate | will study, will recite and take in |
| चca | and |
| यःya | whoever (yaḥ, softened before the vowel) |
| इमम्imaṁ | this |
| धर्म्यम्dharmyaṁ | sacred, in accord with dharma |
| संवादम्saṁvādam | conversation, dialogue between two |
| आवयोःāvayoḥ | of the two of us |
| ज्ञानयज्ञेनjñāna-yajñena | by the offering made of knowledge |
| तेनtena | by him |
| अहम्aham | I (joined to tena by sandhi) |
| इष्टःiṣṭaḥ | worshipped, honoured with offering |
| स्याम्syām | shall have been |
| इतिiti | so, thus |
| मेme | my |
| मतिःmatiḥ | conviction, settled view |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 70 mean?
Krishna says that anyone who studies this dialogue between him and Arjuna has already worshipped him — through jñāna-yajña, the offering made of knowledge. No ritual is prescribed and no qualification demanded. The study itself is the rite, and Krishna closes with his own conviction: so I hold.
What does adhyeshyate cha ya imam dharmyam samvadam avayoh teach?
It names the reader. Āvayoḥ means of the two of us — Krishna and Arjuna — but the verse reaches past that chariot to whoever picks the words up afterward. Dharmyaṁ marks the conversation as sacred ground. To enter it attentively is to stand where Arjuna stood.
What is the sacrifice of knowledge in this verse?
A yajña usually needs fire, offering, and priest. Here the offering is understanding, the fire is steady attention, and you are the one who kindles it. Krishna ranks this quiet inward act with the great rites — not as a lesser substitute, but as the thing they were always pointing toward.
Do I need faith for reading the Gita to count as worship?
Krishna sets no entry condition in this verse. He says whoever studies. The next verse speaks of listening with śraddhā and without malice, so openness matters — but the door here is wide. Begin by reading honestly. The offering is made in the reading, not before it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just finished the teaching, and now he turns to whoever reads it later. Not the warrior in front of him — you, at a distance of centuries. Study is named a sacrifice. No fire, no priest, no ghee poured out; only attention held steady on these words until they open. Notice the tense: has worshipped, already done. The offering is complete in the reading itself. And Krishna does not say a scholar earns this, or a sage — whoever. The conversation was two men on a chariot. It is now between him and you, bent over the page.