Tell me again in full, O Janardana, of Your yoga and vibhutis — for I am never satiated listening to Your nectar-like words.
Synthesis
Arjuna's closing plea before the vibhuti list is a model of the ideal student — never satiated, always hungry for more. The comparison of Krishna's words to amṛta — immortal nectar — is not poetic excess but a precise spiritual observation: truth, when truly heard, nourishes in a way that ordinary knowledge cannot. The hunger Arjuna feels is itself a sign of genuine awakening. This verse also reveals something about the nature of the divine discourse: it cannot be exhausted. Each repetition, each angle of presentation, opens new dimensions. The Gita's wisdom is not information to be consumed and filed away but a living transmission that deepens with every encounter.
Commentaries 8 traditions
Shankara notes that Arjuna's insatiable thirst for knowledge reflects the discriminating intellect (viveka) ripening toward liberation. Just as hunger increases as one approaches nourishment, so does the spiritual hunger intensify as the seeker draws closer to Brahman. The word amṛtam confirms that this knowledge liberates from the death of ignorance.
Apply This Verse
Personal Growth
Cultivate spiritual hunger as a positive quality. Being never-satiated by wisdom — always wanting to go deeper — is a sign of genuine growth, not restlessness.
Questions this verse answers
- ?"How do I maintain spiritual hunger without turning it into restless grasping?"
- ?"What teachings have I returned to again and again and found new depth each time?"
- ?"How do I distinguish genuine spiritual thirst from intellectual addiction?"
- ?"What would it mean to approach every teaching as if hearing it for the first time?"