Bhagavad Gita 2.25अव्यक्तोऽयमचिन्त्योऽयमविकार्योऽयमुच्यते।तस्मादेवं विदित्वैनं नानुशोचितुमर्हसि ॥
avyakto ’yam achintyo ’yam avikāryo ’yam
uchyate tasmādevaṁ viditvainaṁ nānuśhochitum arhasi
Sanskrit recitation
You are more than this body · 2.11–2.30 · Teaching
Translation
This Self is said to be unmanifested, unthinkable, and unchangeable. Therefore, knowing this to be so, you should not grieve.
Hindi translation
यह देही प्रत्यक्ष नहीं दीखता, यह चिन्तनका विषय नहीं है और यह निर्विकार कहा जाता है। अतः इस देहीको ऐसा जानकर शोक नहीं करना चाहिये।
Meaning
The Self is not an object of perception. It can hardly be seen by the physical eyes. Therefore, the Self is unmanifested. That which is seen by the eyes becomes an object of thought. As the Self cannot be perceived by the eyes, It is unthinkable. Milk when mixed with buttermilk changes its form. The Self cannot change Its form like milk. Hence, It is changeless and immutable. Therefore, thus understanding the Self, thou shouldst not mourn. Thou shouldst not think also that thou art their slayer and that they are killed by thee.
After Swami Sivananda
You are more than this body· 2.11–2.30→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 2.11The Blessed Lord said, "You have grieved for those who should not be grieved for; yet, you…
- 2.12Nor, at any time, was I not, nor thou, nor these rulers of men; nor, verily, shall we ever…
- 2.13Just as the embodied soul passes through childhood, youth, and old age in this body, so…
- 2.14The contact of the senses with the objects, O son of Kunti, which causes heat and cold,…
- 2.15That firm man, whom surely these afflictions do not, O chief among men, to whom pleasure…
- 2.16The unreal has no being; there is no non-being of the real; the truth about both has been…
- 2.17Know that to be indestructible, by which all this is pervaded. No one can cause the…
- 2.18These bodies of the embodied Self, which are eternal, indestructible, and immeasurable,…
- 2.19He who takes the Self to be the slayer and he who thinks it is slain, neither of them…
- 2.20It is not born, nor does it ever die; after having been, it again does not cease to be;…
- 2.21Whoever knows it to be indestructible, eternal, unborn, and inexhaustible, how can that…
- 2.22Just as a man casts off worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so too the embodied Self…
- 2.23Weapons cannot cut it, fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it, wind cannot dry it.
- 2.24This Self cannot be cut, burned, wetted, nor dried up; it is eternal, all-pervasive,…
2.25This Self is said to be unmanifested, unthinkable, and unchangeable. Therefore, knowing…
- 2.26But even if thou thinkest of It as constantly being born and constantly dying, even then,…
- 2.27For the born, death is certain, and for the dead, birth is certain; therefore, you should…
- 2.28Beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their middle state, O Arjuna, and…
- 2.29One sees this (the Self) as a wonder; another speaks of it as a wonder; another hears of…
- 2.30This indweller in the body of everyone is ever indestructible, O Arjuna; therefore, you…
Word-by-word→
- na
- not
- ayam
- this soul
- enam
- this soul
- evam
- thus
- arhasi
- befitting
- tasmāt
- therefore
- uchyate
- is said
- viditvā
- having known
- avyaktaḥ
- unmanifested
- achintyaḥ
- inconceivable
- avikāryaḥ
- unchangeable
- anuśhochitum
- to grieve
Read this when you feel
Related verses
- 2.46To the Brahmana who has known the Self, all the Vedas are of as much use as a reservoir of…
- 5.20Resting in Brahman, with a steady intellect and undeluded, the knower of Brahman neither…
- 14.23He who, seated like one unconcerned, is not moved by the dualities, and who, knowing that…
- 13.10Non-attachment, non-identification of the Self with son, wife, home, and the rest, and…