Why does Krishna refer to himself in the third person in the Gita?

From Revati Vallabh Pr:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Question, why does Krishna refer to himself in the third person? As if the Supreme Lord was somebody else? Answer, none of our acharyas has specifically commented on this topic. So, that is why we don’t have a clear or conclusive understanding of this topic.
But if we look at the flow of the Gita and look at some sample verses where Krishna refers to himself in third person, then we can get a general understanding of what is happening over here. So, although the absolute truth is one, the absolute truth also has multiple manifestations. We have Brahman, Paramahamma and Bhagawan.
So, we will take two examples of where Krishna refers to himself in the third person. And we will see what understanding we can get from that. So, now, in 15.16.17.18, it is described that these three verses are very clearly refuting Mayavada at one level.
But Vishwanath Chaturthi Thakur talks about them also as referring to Brahman, Paramahamma and Bhagawan. So, that is the basis of my answer. Although he doesn’t take the third person reference directly.
So, 15.16 says, So, here Krishna is saying that there are two kinds of living beings. One fallible, second infallible. And he says, fallible living beings are in this world and that the infallible are fixed in their location.
So, now Prabhupada talks about this as the bound and the liberated souls. The bound souls are in this world, the liberated are beyond this world. They are fixed in spiritual realization.
So, Vishwanath Chaturthi Thakur takes this to refer to the Jivatmas and Brahman. The Jivatmas are everywhere, whereas the Brahman is fixed in his own position. Now, of course, the Purusha is also at one level in Brahman.
And in that sense, it is not wrong. Then the next verse says, But Krishna is saying, oh, actually the Uttama Purusha is somebody else. Neither the conditioned nor the liberated souls.
So, that, who is that? Who is maintaining all the three worlds. So, now from the overall philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, we know that the person who maintains all the three worlds is Brahman. And the person who maintains all the three worlds is Brahman.
And Vishwanath Chaturthi Thakur says that also this particular verse refers to the Paramatma. Actually, Prabhupada does not talk specifically about the Paramatma. He says that, yes, this is referring to the Lord.
But the important point of this is that in this verse, Krishna is referring to that Lord in the third verse. Uttama Purusha tu anyaha is somebody else. He is called Paramatma.
Paramatme tindaruta. And he is maintaining all the three worlds. And now, in the next verse, 15.18, Krishna goes forward and says, actually, that is me only.
He says, yes. yasmāt kṣaraṁ ti tohaṁ aksharād api chottamaḥ athos miloke vede ca pratitā puruṣottamaḥ He says, in this way, because I am beyond the kṣara and akshara. So, earlier also Krishna has said, that person is beyond both these.
Now, Krishna is saying, I am beyond both. That means, that person is I. Krishna is very clearly equating the two. yasmāt kṣaraṁ ti tohaṁ aksharād api chottamaḥ athos miloke vede ca, therefore, in the Vedas and in the world, pratitā, I am glorified as puruṣottamaḥ, the supreme person.
So, Krishnaji says that this refers to the Bhagavan aspect. The Bhagavan aspect, I repeat. So, that means, when Krishna is referring to himself in the third person, he is referring to his Paramatma aspect.
And when he is referring to himself in the first person, he is referring to the Bhagavan aspect. So, that same thing we can see in the second time, when this third person and first person reference comes. That is from 18.61 to 66.
So, 18.61, Krishna is telling that, there is the Ishvara in the heart of all living beings, who is guiding the wandering of everyone. Ishvara sarva-bhūtānāṁ vindeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati. And then 62, Krishna tells Arjuna to surrender to that Ishvara.
tam eva śaraṇaṁ gaccha sarva-bhāvena bhārata tad prasādāt parāṁ śāntiṁ sthānaṁ prāpsthati śāśvatam Surrender to that Ishvara and by surrendering to him, you will attain the śāśvatam, sthāna, and you will attain supreme shanti. So, you will attain peace and lasting destination. At this point, Arjuna gets a little confused.
Because there is so much that has been spoken. So, Krishna concludes his instruction in the next verse by telling, now Arjuna, you have to decide what to do. So, he says, kīte jñāna mākhyātaṁ guhiyāt guhiyātaraṁ māyā vimṛśayita-darśeṣena ye te cittaḥ kuru Therefore, deliberate, O Arjuna, I have spoken to you more confidential knowledge than what I have spoken earlier.
Deliberate and decide what you want to do. So, now Arjuna is lost in thought and he is very deeply thinking of what I need to do now. So, Krishna’s heart’s compassion overflows.
And he tells Arjuna, don’t bother Arjuna, I’ll tell you what you should do. And then in the next verse he says, I will give you the most confidential knowledge. And then he says, sarva-bhujyataṁ guhiyāt śaraṁ paramaṁ bhajā Paramaṁ bhajā is fear.
And then he says, in the next two verses, manu-mana-bhava And then he says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ bhajā Now, if you look at the essential message of 18.62 and 18.66, it’s the same. tam eva śaraṇaṁ gaccha Surrender to that absolute truth. And then, parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ bhajā So, the words also say, tam eva śaraṇaṁ gaccha śaraṇaṁ bhajā So, there it was tam, here it is mām.
So, first of all, there is no ambiguity about whom the third person refers to. Because just a few verses after the third person’s reference, in the same sense, which he almost is, same words being used, mām is used. So, in that sense, it’s clear that the third person is also a reference to Krishna.
But here we get an insight, within the flow of the Gita, of why the third person changes to the first person. So, the third person’s reference is considered more confidential knowledge. But a first person’s reference is considered to be the most confidential knowledge.
That is revealed because of affection. That is revealed because of, iṣṭo sime dvṛḍa-mṛti tovakṣā-mṛte 18.64, Krishna says, iṣṭo sime dvṛḍa-mṛti You are very dearly loved by me. And therefore, I am speaking this to you.
For your benefit. So, in general, Krishna uses the second person’s reference to refer to the Paramātmā. And the third person to refer to the Paramātmā.
And first person to refer to himself. This is what we can understand from the context of the Gita, as well as from Chakravartī Pārtha’s commentary. Another way of looking at this is, if you look at Śrīla Prabhupāda’s own life, that a third person’s reference can be a sign of humility.
When the devotees wanted to make a palace of gold for Śrīla Prabhupāda, in Nivṛndāvana, so the devotees went and told Śrīla Prabhupāda, Prabhupāda, we want to build a palace for you. Prabhupāda said, no need. And the devotees insisted and Prabhupāda absolutely refused.
The devotees were disappointed. And then they thought about it and they approached Śrīla Prabhupāda again and they said, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we want to make a palace for the spiritual master. And Prabhupāda said, yes, you can go ahead.
So now Prabhupāda is the spiritual master. But why is he doing that? Because he is thinking that the glory is not for me, but it is for the spiritual master. So, in one sense, Prabhupāda uses the third person’s reference to refer to himself in a more humble way.
That it is the post, and that post is occupied by me right now, but it is the post that is glorious, not I that is glorious. So, like that, Paramātmā, when Kṛṣṇa is referring to, Kṛṣṇa doesn’t want to say again and again, just surrender to me, surrender to me, surrender to me. He makes it clear that He is the Supreme Lord.
But then the object of surrender is the overall controller of the world. And Kṛṣṇa Himself doesn’t necessarily play that role, especially in the spiritual world. And He is also not playing that role, especially with Arjuna, they are sākhyaras.
And in the spiritual world also, Kṛṣṇa, especially the way He relates with His devotees, is in a more intimate rāsās. The devotees are not normally surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. They are surrendered in the sense that they love Kṛṣṇa, but they deal with Kṛṣṇa almost as equal.
So, therefore, Kṛṣṇa expresses humility here by saying that actually the person to whom you surrender is the person who is in control of the whole world. And then, after one surrenders like that, then one develops a very affectionate intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa. So, for the sake of differentiating brahmātmā and bhagavān, and for the sake of expressing His humility, Kṛṣṇa uses the third-person reference.