ऋषिभिर्बहुधा गीतं छन्दोभिर्विविधैः पृथक् । ब्रह्मसूत्रपदैश्चैव हेतुमद्भिर्विनिश्चितैः ॥
ṛṣibhirbahudā gītaṃ chandobhirvividhaiḥ pṛthak | brahmasūtrapadaiścaiva hetumadbhirviniścitaiḥ ||
Translation
This has been sung by the sages in many ways, in various hymns separately, and also in the well-reasoned and definitive words of the Brahma Sutras.
Interpretation
Krishna grounds the teaching in tradition: rishis have sung of this in many ways (bahudha gitam — sung many times in many ways) in various Vedic hymns (chandobhir vividhaih). And the Brahma-sutra-padaish cha (the aphoristic statements of the Brahma Sutras — the systematic philosophical treatises that reason through the nature of Brahman). This teaching is not new or speculative; it is the distilled wisdom of an ancient tradition of inquiry and realization. Krishna places himself within this lineage even as he transcends it.