Sanskrit
राजन्संस्मृत्य संस्मृत्य संवादमिममद्भुतम् । केशवार्जुनयोः पुण्यं हृष्यामि च मुहुर्मुहुः ॥ ७६ ॥
rājan saṃsmṛtya saṃsmṛtya saṃvādam imam adbhutam keśavārjunayoḥ puṇyaṃ hṛṣyāmi ca muhur muhuḥ
Translation
O King, remembering, remembering this marvellous and holy dialogue between Keshava and Arjuna, I rejoice again and again.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Sanjaya’s own devotional response, addressed now to Dhritarashtra: remembering, again and again, this marvelous dialogue between Keshava and Arjuna, he rejoices again and again. The doubled verb, saṃsmṛtya saṃsmṛtya, enacts in its own grammar the very repetition of recollection it describes. Saṃsmṛtya saṃsmṛtya — “recalling, recalling.” Sanjaya models the practice the Gita asks of its reader: not a single hearing but a returning, again and again, to the remembered dialogue.
Study deeper
Word by word
- rājan saṃsmṛtya saṃsmṛtyaराजन् संस्मृत्य संस्मृत्य
- O King, recalling again and again (rājan + saṃsmṛtya + saṃsmṛtya)
- saṃvādam imam adbhutamसंवादं इमं अद्भुतं
- this wondrous dialogue (saṃvādam + imam + adbhutam)
- keśavārjunayoḥ puṇyaṃकेशवार्जुनयोः पुण्यं
- holy, of Keśava and Arjuna (keśava-arjunayoḥ + puṇyam)
- hṛṣyāmi ca muhur muhuḥहृष्यामि च मुहुः मुहुः
- I rejoice again and again (hṛṣyāmi + ca + muhuḥ + muhuḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Sanjaya addresses this rapture to Dhritarashtra — the blind king whose sons are the ones about to lose the war this dialogue precedes. It’s a strange audience for unrestrained joy, and the text doesn’t pause to flag the mismatch; the wonder of the teaching, apparently, operates on its own track, indifferent to whether its immediate listener has any reason to share in it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- You can hold genuine wonder at something true and beautiful even while sharing it with someone for whom the news is actually difficult — the value of the insight doesn't need to wait for an audience whose circumstances make celebrating it comfortable.
Professional
- When you're genuinely excited about a hard-won insight or win, be aware the person you're telling may be in a very different position than you — real enthusiasm and an audience's mismatched circumstances can coexist, but it's worth noticing rather than ignoring.
Family & Social
- Sharing something that brought you real joy with a family member currently going through something hard isn't automatically wrong — but notice the mismatch rather than assuming they'll feel what you feel just because you do.
Ask yourself
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