Bhagavad Gita · 8.20 · Path of the Eternal God·20 of 28
परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः।यः स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति ॥
paras tasmāt tu bhāvo ’nyo ’vyakto ’vyaktāt
sanātanaḥ yaḥ sa sarveṣhu bhūteṣhu naśhyatsu na vinaśhyati
Sanskrit recitation
The path of light · 8.14–8.22 · Teaching
Translation
But verily, there exists higher than this Unmanifested, another Unmanifested Eternal, which is not destroyed even when all beings are destroyed.
Meaning
Another unmanifested in the ancient or eternal Para Brahman Who is distinct from the Unmanifested (Avyakta or Primordial Nature), Who is of ite a different nature. It is superior to Hiranyagarbha (the Cosmic Creative Intelligence) and the Unmanifested Nature because It is their cause. It is not destroyed when all the beings from Brahma down to the ants or the blade of grass are destroyed. (Cf.XV.17)
After Swami Sivananda
The path of light· 8.14–8.22→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 8.14I am easily attainable by that ever-steadfast yogi who constantly and daily remembers me for a long time, not thinking of anything else with a single-minded or one-pointed focus, O Partha.
- 8.15Having attained Me, these great souls do not take birth again here—a place of pain and impermanence—but have reached the highest perfection of liberation.
- 8.16All the worlds, including the world of Brahma, are subject to return again, O Arjuna; but he who reaches Me, O son of Kunti, has no rebirth.
- 8.17Those who know the day of Brahma, which lasts a thousand Yugas, and the night, which also lasts a thousand Yugas, know day and night.
- 8.18From the Unmanifested, all the manifested worlds proceed upon the arrival of the 'day'; upon the arrival of the 'night', they dissolve indeed into that which is known as the Unmanifested.
- 8.19This same multitude of beings, being born again and again, helplessly dissolves, O Arjuna, into the Unmanifested at the coming of the night and comes forth at the coming of the day.
8.20But verily, there exists higher than this Unmanifested, another Unmanifested Eternal, which is not destroyed even when all beings are destroyed.
- 8.21What is known as the Unmanifested and the Imperishable, That is said to be the highest goal. Those who reach It do not return (to this Samsara). That is My supreme abode (place or state).
- 8.22That highest Purusha, O Arjuna, is attainable by unswerving devotion to Him alone, within Whom all beings dwell and by Whom all this is pervaded.
Word-by-word→
- na
- never
- tu
- but
- saḥ
- that
- yaḥ
- who
- anyaḥ
- another
- paraḥ
- transcendental
- tasmāt
- than that
- avyaktāt
- to the unmanifest
- bhāvaḥ
- creation
- avyaktaḥ
- unmanifest
- naśhyatsu
- cease to exist
- sarveṣhu
- all
- bhūteṣhu
- in beings
- vinaśhyati
- is annihilated
- sanātanaḥ
- eternal
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