Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 18

Chapter 11 – Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

त्वमक्षरं परमं वेदितव्यं
त्वमस्य विश्वस्य परं निधानम् ।
त्वमव्ययः शाश्वतधर्मगोप्ता
सनातनस्त्वं पुरुषो मतो मे ॥

Transliteration

tvamakṣaraṃ paramaṃ veditavyaṃ tvamasya viśvasya paraṃ nidhānam .
tvamavyayaḥ śāśvatadharmagoptā sanātanastvaṃ puruṣo mato me ॥

Meaning

You are the supreme Imperishable, the one to be known; You are the ultimate resting place of this universe; You are the undecaying guardian of the eternal dharma; You are, I am convinced, the primeval Person.

Word meanings

त्वम् – You
अक्षरम् – the Imperishable
परमम् – supreme
वेदितव्यम् – to be known
त्वम् – You
अस्य – of this
विश्वस्य – universe
परम् – supreme, ultimate
निधानम् – resting place, refuge, treasure-house
त्वम् – You
अव्ययः – undecaying, inexhaustible
शाश्वतधर्मगोप्ता – guardian of the eternal dharma
सनातनः – primeval, eternal
त्वम् – You
पुरुषः – Person, the Supreme Being
मतः – considered, held
मे – by me, in my view

Anvaya (word order)

त्वम् परमम् अक्षरम् वेदितव्यम्; त्वम् अस्य विश्वस्य परम् निधानम्; त्वम् अव्ययः शाश्वत-धर्म-गोप्ता; त्वम् सनातनः पुरुषः (इति) मे मतः ।

Explanation

Up to this point Arjuna has been describing what he sees; now he draws a conclusion from it. Four times he says tvam, ‘You’, making four declarations about who the Lord truly is. It is a conviction born of vision, so he ends with mato me: this is my settled understanding.

First, You are the supreme Akshara, the Imperishable that alone is worth knowing (veditavya). The Upanishads present the imperishable Brahman as the supreme object of knowledge, and the Gita itself says akṣaraṃ brahma paramam in 8.3. Second, You are the param nidhanam of this universe: the foundation on which it rests and into which it dissolves at the end of an age. Krishna had called Himself the nidhana and the imperishable seed in 9.18.

Third, You are avyaya, undecaying, and shashvata-dharma-gopta, the guardian of the eternal dharma. This confirms the promise of 4.7–8 that the Lord comes forth whenever dharma declines. Fourth, You are the sanatana purusha, the primeval Person, which points ahead to the Purushottama of 15.18.

Shankara takes akshara here as the supreme Brahman, to be known by seekers of liberation. Ramanuja stresses that the Supreme taught in the Upanishads is none other than the personal Lord who protects dharma; Arjuna is recognizing Krishna Himself as that Brahman. Madhva reads both akshara and purusha as names of Vishnu, the supreme and independent reality.

Context

This verse marks the turn in Arjuna’s hymn from description to theological recognition. In 11.15–17 he described the form; here he declares its identity. In 11.19 he will return to describing the beginningless, endless and blazing cosmic form.

Life lesson

Experience matures only when it becomes understanding and firm conviction. Trusting the One who upholds the universe and guards dharma, we too can stand fearlessly on the side of what is right.

Key terms

Akshara: the Imperishable, the supreme Brahman
Nidhana: ultimate resting place; the support and final repose of the universe
Shashvata-dharma-gopta: guardian of the eternal dharma
Sanatana Purusha: the eternal, primeval Person