Bhagavad Gita BG 18.74
Chapter 18, Verse 74 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
सञ्जय उवाच । इत्यहं वासुदेवस्य पार्थस्य च महात्मनः । संवादमिममश्रौषम् अद्भुतं रोमहर्षणम् ॥
sanjaya uvaca ity aham vasudevasya parthasya ca mahatmanah samvadam imam ashrausham adbhutam roma-harshanam
Meaning
Sanjaya said: Thus I heard this wondrous dialogue of Vasudeva and the great-souled Partha, causing the hair to stand on end.
Understanding
The narrative frame returns: sanjaya uvaca (Sanjaya speaks — the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, which has been narrated by Sanjaya to the blind king Dhritarashtra, now concludes). Ity aham vasudevasya parthasya ca mahatmanah samvadam imam ashrausham (thus I heard this dialogue of Vasudeva [Krishna] and Partha [Arjuna], the great-souled one). Adbhutam roma-harshanam (wondrous, causing the hair to stand on end — the classical sign of spiritual/devotional awe in Indian tradition, called pulaka or romAncha). The narration ends with Sanjaya's physical-emotional witness: the dialogue was so extraordinary it produced the somatic response of wonder — standing hair, goosebumps of the sacred.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| संवादम् | samvadam | dialogue, conversation, discourse |
| अश्रौषम् | ashrausham | I heard (past tense of shru) |
| अद्भुतम् | adbhutam | wondrous, extraordinary, marvelous |
| रोमहर्षणम् | roma-harshanam | causing the hair to stand on end (roma = body hair, harshana = standing up) — sign of spiritual awe |
| सञ्जय उवाच | sañjaya uvāca | Sanjaya said |
| इति | iti | thus |
| अहम् | aham | I |
| वासुदेवस्य | vāsudevasya | of Vasudeva (Krishna) |
| पार्थस्य | pārthasya ca | and of Partha (Arjuna) |
| महात्मनः | mahātmanaḥ | of the great soul |
| संवादम् | saṃvādam | conversation |
| इमम् | imam | this |
| अश्रौषम् | aśrauṣam | I have heard |
| रोम-हर्षणम् | roma-harṣaṇam | causing the hair to stand |