Yathora

The Gita · Chapter 8

Bhagavad Gita 8.3

अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते। भूतभावोद्भवकरो विसर्गः कर्मसंज्ञितः॥

śhrī bhagavān uvācha akṣharaṁ brahma paramaṁ svabhāvo ’dhyātmam uchyate bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo visargaḥ karma-sanjñitaḥ

Translation

The Blessed Lord said: The indestructible, the supreme is the Eternal; His essential nature is called Self -knowledge; the emanation that causes the birth of beings is named Action;

What it means

The indestructible Supreme is the Eternal; Its own nature is called Self-knowledge; the creative force that gives rise to beings is called action. Three terms defined in one breath: the reality, the knowing of it, and the power that projects the world.

Try this today

Three definitions: the absolute, the inner core, and the creative outpouring - one reality in three functions.

Something to reflect on

Can I tell apart reality, my knowing of it, and the force that moves my world?

Read it in Yathora
← 8.28.4 →

Translation by Annie Besant (1905, public domain). The meanings are original to Yathora, drawn from Shankara’s commentary.