Bhagavad Gita 2.20
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि- न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः। अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
Meaning
The Self is never born nor dies; having been, it never ceases to be. Unborn, eternal, ever-abiding and primeval — it is not slain when the body is slain.
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Related
Bhagavad Gita 2.47
You have the right to action alone, never to its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.
Bhagavad Gita 4.7
Whenever there is a decline in dharma and a rise in adharma, O Bharata, I manifest Myself.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28
Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
May all beings be happy. May all be free from illness. May all see what is auspicious. May no one suffer.
About this shloka
Bhagavad Gita 2.20 belongs to the long stretch of the second chapter in which Krishna answers Arjuna's grief by explaining the nature of the Self. The verse is a description rather than a command. Its closest relative is a verse in the Katha Upanishad that is almost the same in wording, which shows how directly the Gita draws on the older Upanishadic stream of thought.
The vocabulary builds a picture by negation and by accumulation. Na jayate mriyate va says it is not born and does not die, and kadacit adds at no time. Ayam is this one, the Self. Ajah means unborn, nityah means constant, shashvatah means everlasting, and puranah means ancient or primeval. The second half then states that na hanyate hanyamane sharire, it is not killed when the body is killed. The accumulation of epithets makes the point that birth, growth and death are features of the body and are not applied to the atman.
Readers often meet the verse in contexts of loss, and it is read in condolence settings in many families as a source of perspective. It should be understood in its original setting, though. Krishna uses it to loosen Arjuna's paralysing sorrow, and the Gita goes on in later chapters to ask what a person should actually do, so the verse is a foundation and not the whole teaching. The whole discussion of the Self continues through the surrounding verses and is best read alongside them.
Common questions
- What does ajah nityah shashvatah mean?
- Ajah is unborn, nityah is constant or eternal, and shashvatah is everlasting. They are three of the epithets the verse gives to the Self.
- Is there an Upanishad parallel to this verse?
- Yes. A verse in the Katha Upanishad is nearly identical, and the Gita is generally understood to draw on that Upanishadic teaching.
- Does the verse say the body does not matter?
- It says the Self is not destroyed when the body is. Elsewhere in the Gita the body and daily duties are still treated seriously.
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