Vishnu Wisdom & Light Bhagavad Gita Verse
Bhagavad Gita 2.20: Krishna teaches that the self within the body is never born and never dies. Sanskrit text and meaning in simple words.
Sanskrit
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥
The line is printed in many books in four short parts; we show it as two lines. The words are the same.
Transliteration (IAST)
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ |
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṃ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre ||
Meaning
This one, the self that lives in the body, is never born and never dies. It did not come into being at some time, and it will not cease to be. It is unborn, unchanging, everlasting and ancient. It is not killed when the body is killed.
Source / Textual Reference
Bhagavad Gita 2.20 (Chapter 2, verse 20)
The Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata. It records a talk between Krishna and the warrior Arjuna on the field of Kurukshetra, just before a great battle. Krishna is the speaker.
A very similar verse is found in the Katha Upanishad (1.2.18), where Yama, the lord of death, speaks it to the boy Nachiketa. The two verses share most of their words but differ in a few places.
Traditional Significance
This verse is part of Krishna’s first teaching to Arjuna, who is full of grief at the thought of the battle. Krishna begins by speaking about the self (ātman) that lives in every body. The tradition reads the verse as saying that what a person truly is cannot be touched by the birth and death of the body.
It is a verse of teaching. It is not a promise about any event in anyone’s life.
Traditional Practice
The verse is read, studied and reflected on. There is no fixed time or number of repetitions.
Related Content
- The next teaching on the self, Gita 2.22
- Krishna Janmashtami
- Tat Tvam Asi, a saying of the Upanishads on the self