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Adhyāyas / Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga Yogaḥ / verse 12

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वाऽमृतमश्नुते। अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते
jñeyaṁ yat tat pravakṣhyāmi yaj jñātvāmṛitam aśhnute anādi mat-paraṁ brahma na sat tan nāsad uchyate
Anuṣṭubh

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

I shall speak of that which is to be known, by realizing which one attains immortality. The supreme Brahman is without any beginning; that is called neither being nor non-being.

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

मैं उस ज्ञेय वस्तु को स्पष्ट कहूंगा जिसे जानकर मनुष्य अमृतत्व को प्राप्त करता है। वह ज्ञेय है - अनादि, परम ब्रह्म, जो न सत् और न असत् ही कहा जा सकता है।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
ज्ञेयय्ँ यत् तत् प्रवक् ष्यामि
यज् ज्ञात्वा मृत मश्नुते
अनादि मत् परम् ब्रह्म
न सत् तन् नासदुच् यते
॥ १२ ॥
Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →

Word by word

padārtha
jñeyamought to be known
yatwhich
tatthat
pravakṣhyāmiI shall now reveal
yatwhich
jñātvāknowing
amṛitamimmortality
aśhnuteone achieves
anādibeginningless
mat-paramsubordinate to me
brahmaBrahman
nanot
satexistent
tatthat
nanot
asatnon-existent
uchyateis called

Themes

from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad Gītā

Meaning — Questions & Solutions

from Q&A with KnA
13.12Brahman, the ultimate ‘to-be-known’; its qualities — Nirguṇa!

“I shall declare that which is to be known (jñeyam), knowing which one attains immortality: the beginningless supreme Brahman, said to be neither existent nor non-existent (na sat tan nāsad ucyate).” What follows can only be stated in paradox (13.13–17): “with hands and feet everywhere, eyes, heads and faces everywhere” — yet “without any of the senses”; “unattached, yet supporting all”; “devoid of the guṇas, yet experiencing the guṇas”; “outside and inside all beings”; “undivided, yet appearing as if divided in beings”. This is the Gītā’s way of pointing to the nirguṇa Brahman — that which has no attribute the mind can pin, so that every positive description must be immediately cancelled by its opposite. It is “not sat” (not a limited existent thing) and “not asat” (not sheer nothing) — the language strains precisely because the Reality exceeds the grid of language. Brahman can be shown, by such double-negation, but not defined.