Verse 4.4

Verse 4.4: Arjuna spoke—“To a later age belongs thy birth, to an earlier the birth of Vivasvat: How may I understand this, that thou didst expound (it) in the beginning?” (32)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

Arjuna said, “O Shrihari, you are the unlimited fountain of mercy and what wonder then, that a mother covers her child with tender caresses. You are the cool shelter to those souls who are tired and fatigued in the journey of worldly life; the very mother to those who are forsaken in life. We owe our very life to the divine grace; oh, you know well how a mother giving birth to a crippled child, has to suffer life-long hardships; such indeed, is your lot in relation to us. You know all this and it is needless to say all this before You. Now, my Lord hear attentively whatever I ask, and do not resent it. See, the old story about your preaching the secret of Yoga of actions to Vivasvat you narrated to us now, does not make any sense to my mind even for a moment, since who this Vivasvat was, was not known even to our forefathers. How could you then teach that truth to him? It is said that he (Vivasvat) lived in very ancient times; while your own life is only recent; so the two events are at variance with the fact that you told it to him. But on the other hand, O God, your own life is all a profound mystery to us; how can I, therefore, call it, at once as untrue, what you have said; so do tell me in a way that I can understand, all about this event,-that you gave to Vivasvat this noble truth.