Bhagavad Gita BG 9.33
Chapter 9, Verse 33 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
किं पुनर्ब्राह्मणाः पुण्या भक्ता राजर्षयस्तथा । अनित्यमसुखं लोकम् इमं प्राप्य भजस्व माम् ॥
kim punar brahmanah punya bhakta rajarsayas tatha anityam asukham lokam imam prapya bhajasva mam
Meaning
How much more, then, the pure brahmins and the devoted royal sages! Having come to this impermanent and joyless world, worship Me.
Understanding
The concluding argument and the final call. Kim punah (how much more!) — if even those of difficult birth, women, vaishyas, and shudras reach the supreme goal by taking refuge, then how much more easily can the brahmanas (punya — pure, meritorious, with full Vedic access) and the rajarsayah (royal sages — the kshatriyas who are also rsis, spiritual practitioners). Then — the urgent closing: anityam asukham lokam imam prapya (having come to this impermanent, joyless world — anityam = impermanent; asukham = joyless/without true joy). You have been given the rarest birth in the rarest world — it is fleeting and structurally incapable of producing deep joy. Therefore: bhajasva mam (worship Me — the imperative of bhaj, the most intimate word for devotion). Not as one option among many, but as the essential response to the human condition.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| किं पुनः | kim punah | how much more! (rhetorical — amplifying the preceding argument) |
| पुण्याः | punyah | pure, meritorious, full of punya/goodness |
| राजर्षयः | rajarsayah | royal sages (rajarsi — kings who are also sages/seers) |
| अनित्यम् | anityam | impermanent, non-eternal, fleeting |
| भजस्व | bhajasva | worship Me, be devoted to Me (intimate imperative of bhaj — to serve, to love, to share) |
| किम् | kim | how much more |
| पुनः | punaḥ | again, then |
| ब्राह्मणाः | brāhmaṇāḥ | the brahmanas |
| पुण्याः | puṇyāḥ | pious, holy |
| भक्ताः | bhaktāḥ | devotees |
| राजर्षयः | rājarṣayaḥ | the saintly kings |
| तथा | tathā | as well |
| असुखम् | asukham | joyless, miserable |
| लोकम् | lokam | world |
| इमम् | imam | this |
| प्राप्य | prāpya | having attained |
| माम् | mām | Me |
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