Bhagavad Gita 4.5
श्रीभगवानुवाच । 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 paran-tapa ||
Translation
The deity said: Many births of mine have passed, O Arjuna, and of yours also. All these I know, but you do not, O harasser of foes.
Reflection
What about your own past have you been waiting for someone else to remember for you?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Four
Bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni, tava ca. Many of my births have passed, and of yours. The teacher pairs himself with the student grammatically. Both have a long history. Only one remembers it. Tāny ahaṃ veda sarvāṇi, all of those I know. Na tvaṃ vettha, you do not know. The difference is not in the having of births. It is in the remembering. Aurobindo reads this as the basic asymmetry of teacher and student: not that the teacher has been further, but that the teacher has the line of sight back.