Bhagavad Gita 8.4अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम्।अधियज्ञोऽहमेवात्र देहे देहभृतां वर ॥
adhibhūtaṁ kṣharo bhāvaḥ puruṣhaśh
chādhidaivatam adhiyajño ’ham evātra dehe deha-bhṛitāṁ vara
Sanskrit recitation
What you remember at the end · 8.1–8.13 · Teaching
Translation
Adhibhuta—knowledge of the elements—pertains to My perishable nature, and the Purusha, or the Soul, is the Adhidaiva; I alone am the Adhiyajna here in this body, O best among the embodied.
Hindi translation
हे देहधारियोंमें श्रेष्ठ अर्जुन ! क्षरभाव अर्थात् नाशवान् पदार्थको अधिभूत कहते हैं, पुरुष अर्थात् हिरण्यगर्भ ब्रह्माजी अधिदैव हैं और इस देहमें अन्तर्यामीरूपसे मैं ही अधियज्ञ हूँ।
Meaning
Adhibhuta the perishable nature the changing universe of the five elements with all its objects all the material objects everything that has birth the changing world of names and forms.Adhidaiva Purusha literally means that by which everything is filled (pur to fill). It may also mean that which lies in this body. It is Hiranyagarbha or the universal soul or the sustainer from whom all living beings derive their sensepower. It is the witnessing consciousness.Adhiyajna Consciousness the presiding deity of sacrifice. The Lord of all works and sacrifice isVishnu. Lord Vishnu identifies Himself with all sacrificial acts. Yajna is verily Vishnu, says the Taittiriya Samhita of the Veda. Lord Krishna says, I am the presiding deity in all acts of sacrifice in the body. All sacrifices are done by the body and so it may be said that they rest in the body.
After Swami Sivananda
What you remember at the end· 8.1–8.13→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 8.1Arjuna said, "What is Brahman? What is Adhyatma? What is action, O best among men? What is…
- 8.2Who and how is Adhiyajna here in this body, O destroyer of Madhu? And how, at the time of…
- 8.3The Blessed Lord said, "Brahman is the Imperishable, the Supreme; its essential nature is…
8.4Adhibhuta—knowledge of the elements—pertains to My perishable nature, and the Purusha, or…
- 8.5And whoever, leaving their body, goes forth remembering Me alone at the time of death,…
- 8.6Whoever at the end leaves the body, thinking of any being, to that being only does he go,…
- 8.7Therefore, at all times, remember Me only and fight. With your mind and intellect fixed on…
- 8.8With the mind not moving towards any other thing, made steadfast through the practice of…
- 8.9Whosoever meditates on the Omniscient, the Ancient, the Ruler of the whole world, minuter…
- 8.10At the time of death, with an unwavering mind, endowed with devotion, by the power of…
- 8.11That which is declared to be Imperishable by those who know the Vedas, that which the…
- 8.12Having closed all the gates, confined the mind in the heart, and fixed the life-breath in…
- 8.13Uttering the one-syllabled Om, the Brahman, and remembering Me, he who departs, leaving…
Word-by-word→
- cha
- and
- eva
- certainly
- aham
- I
- atra
- here
- dehe
- in the body
- vara
- O best
- bhāvaḥ
- nature
- adhibhūtam
- the ever changing physical manifestation
- kṣharaḥ
- perishable
- adhidaivatam
- the Lord of the celestial gods
- puruṣhaḥ
- the cosmic personality of God, encompassing the material creation
- adhiyajñaḥ
- the Lord of all sacrifices
- deha-bhṛitām
- of the embodied
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