Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 1

Chapter 8 – Akshara Brahma Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

अर्जुन उवाच ।
किं तद् ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम ।
अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तमधिदैवं किमुच्यते ॥

Transliteration

arjuna uvāca .
kiṃ tad brahma kimadhyātmaṃ kiṃ karma puruṣottama .
adhibhūtaṃ ca kiṃ proktamadhidaivaṃ kimucyate ॥

Meaning

Arjuna said: O Supreme Person, what is that Brahman? What is Adhyatma? What is Karma? What is said to be Adhibhuta, and what is called Adhidaiva?

Word meanings

किम् – what is
तत् – that
ब्रह्म – Brahman
अध्यात्मम् – Adhyatma
कर्म – action (Karma)
पुरुषोत्तम – O Supreme Person
अधिभूतम् – Adhibhuta
च – and
प्रोक्तम् – is said
अधिदैवम् – Adhidaiva
उच्यते – is called

Anvaya (word order)

अर्जुनः उवाच — पुरुषोत्तम, तत् ब्रह्म किम्? अध्यात्मं किम्? कर्म किम्? अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तम्? अधिदैवं किम् उच्यते?

Explanation

At the close of the seventh chapter Krishna used several terms that were new to Arjuna: Brahman, Adhyatma, Karma, Adhibhuta, Adhidaiva and Adhiyajna (7.29-30). A sincere student does not move on with half-understood words, so the eighth chapter opens with Arjuna's questions.

Seven questions are asked in all, and five of them are in this verse. What is that Brahman, knowing which one crosses over samsara? What is Adhyatma, the inner principle on which everything about the individual rests? What is Karma, the activity that keeps the wheel of birth and death turning? What are Adhibhuta and Adhidaiva, the material and the divine dimensions of creation? Arjuna addresses Krishna as Purushottama because he senses that the One he questions is the ultimate ground of all of these.

There is also a quiet urgency behind the questions. Arjuna stands on the edge of a battlefield where death is very near. He wants to know what the whole structure of existence amounts to, and what a person ought to do at the final moment. The next verse completes the inquiry on exactly that point.

Shankara observes that the questions arise because the Lord had used these words without defining them. The answers that follow will give each term a fixed and precise meaning.

Context

In the last two verses of chapter 7 (7.29-30) Krishna named Brahman, Adhyatma, Karma, Adhibhuta, Adhidaiva and Adhiyajna. Arjuna now asks what they mean. The answers come in 8.3-4.

Life lesson

Asking humbly about what you do not understand is the first step toward wisdom. Acting on half-understood ideas breeds confusion in life as well; a clear question is a sign of seriousness and faith, not of weakness.

Key terms

ब्रह्म: the supreme, all-pervading, imperishable Reality
अध्यात्म: the inner nature of the individual, the matter of the Self
अधिभूत: the aspect concerning perishable beings and matter
अधिदैव: the aspect concerning the divine powers