There is a palpable anachronism in the opening stanza of this chapter. Krishna says that he taught this Eternal Truth to Lord Sun in the beginning of creation. It was quite natural for Arjuna to think of Krishna as the son of Devaki, the Flute-bearer of Gokula. To Arjuna, his charioteer Krishna had a definite date of birth, and was only his own contemporary. Therefore, Krishna Himself could not have advised the Sun, who, by all calculations, is the one who manifested in nature much earlier than all the planetary worlds.

TO REMOVE FROM THE MINDS OF THE HASTY READERS THE POSSIBLE MISUNDERSTANDING THAT KRISHNA, THE SON OF DEVAKI, IS THE SPEAKER OF THE GEETA, VYASA MAKES THE BLESSED LORD DECLARE THE FOLLOWING:

Bhavatah, Your; janma, was aparam, later, in the abode of Vasudeva; (whereas) the birth vivasvatah, of Visvasvan, the Sun; was param, earlier, in the beginning of creation. Therefore, katham, how; vijanyam, am I to understand; etat, this, as not inconsistent; iti, that; tvam, You, yourself; who proktavan, insturcted this Yoga; adau, in the beginning, are the same person who are now teaching me? By way of demolishing the doubt of fools with regard to Vasudeva, that He has no God-hood and omniscience-to which very purpose was Arjuna’s question-