A declaration · expansive in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“Timeless wisdom survives by being passed on, not newly invented.”
The Lord said: I taught this imperishable yoga to Vivasvan. Vivasvan taught it to Manu, and Manu taught it to Ikshvaku.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallythe Lord said · this · to Vivasvan · yoga · taught · I · imperishable · Vivasvan · to Manu · said · Manu · to Ikshvaku · spoke
Krishna says he taught this timeless yoga to the sun-god, who passed it to Manu, then to Ikshvaku. The teaching is ancient and preserved through a lineage.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga" (Knowledge and Renunciation of Action).
Verse 1 sits in Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita — Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga, "Knowledge and Renunciation of Action". The chapter has 42 verses in total.
You inherit a practice from a teacher who learned it from someone before them, and they from someone before them. What feels new to you may be older than your doubts.
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Krishna traces this yoga's lineage: from himself to Vivasvan, to Manu, to Ikshvaku.
What this verse means
Krishna says he taught this timeless yoga to the sun-god, who passed it to Manu, then to Ikshvaku. The teaching is ancient and preserved through a lineage.
Context & commentary
With Arjuna shaken and unable to fight, Krishna begins by tracing the teaching back through an ancient lineage: from himself to Vivasvan, then to Manu, then to Ikshvaku. He presents it as an old inheritance, lost and now being restored.
What it looks like today
You inherit a practice from a teacher who learned it from someone before them, and they from someone before them. What feels new to you may be older than your doubts.
“Some truths are not invented in a moment; they are handed down carefully across generations.”