Chapter IV · Śloka 5
Śrī Kṛṣṇa uvāca
श्री भगवानुवाच
बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन ।
तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप ॥
बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन ।
तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप ॥
śrī bhagavān uvāca
bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna |
tāny ahaṃ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṃ vettha parantapa ||
bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna |
tāny ahaṃ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṃ vettha parantapa ||
The Blessed Lord said: Many births of Mine have passed, and of yours also, O Arjuna. I know them all; you do not know them, O Scorcher of foes.
Krishna asserts unbroken divine self-knowledge across all incarnations, contrasting it with the soul's ordinary forgetfulness imposed by māyā. The distinction is not in the fact of multiple births but in the quality of consciousness attending them.