Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 15

Chapter 8 – Akshara Brahma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् ।
नाप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः ॥

Transliteration

māmupetya punarjanma duḥkhālayamaśāśvatam .
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṃsiddhiṃ paramāṃ gatāḥ ॥

Meaning

Having reached Me, the great-souled, who have attained supreme perfection, do not again take rebirth, the impermanent abode of sorrow.

Word meanings

माम् – Me
उपेत्य – having reached
पुनर्जन्म – rebirth
दुःखालयम् – abode of sorrow
अशाश्वतम् – impermanent
न आप्नुवन्ति – do not attain
महात्मानः – the great-souled
संसिद्धिम् परमाम् – supreme perfection
गताः – having attained

Anvaya (word order)

महात्मानः परमां संसिद्धिं गताः (सन्तः) माम् उपेत्य दुःखालयम् अशाश्वतं पुनर्जन्म न आप्नुवन्ति ।

Explanation

The Lord now describes what the great-souled ones, mahatmanah, gain who reach Him: "Having come to Me, these great souls, who have attained the highest perfection, do not take birth again, which is the abode of sorrow and is impermanent." In two phrases the Lord gives a candid verdict on ordinary worldly existence: it is duhkhalayam, a house of suffering, and ashashvatam, not lasting.

This is not pessimism but a sober look at the pattern of life. Every joy in the world arrives with a companion: it can be lost, it fades, it depends on circumstances, and it ends with the body. Birth brings the child into dependence and illness, youth into struggle, age into decline, and death into loss. The Gita does not deny the beauty of life, but it asks us to notice that nothing in it is final, and that a heart seeking permanent fulfilment cannot find it in what is by nature temporary.

The word "samsiddhim paramam gatah", having attained supreme perfection, describes these mahatmas as complete. They are not people who escaped from life in weakness but people who have reached the goal of life. Shankara explains that those who know the Lord by knowledge or devotion do not return to rebirth, since the cause of rebirth, ignorance, has ended. Ramanuja says that devotees who have attained the Lord are freed from the cycle and enjoy the supreme state with Him. Madhva also insists that those who attain the Lord do not come back.

A caution is needed against reading this verse as a rejection of life. In the same Gita, the Lord urges Arjuna to act, to fight and to carry his duty. The freedom spoken of is not freedom from action but freedom from compulsion. A mind that no longer depends on the world for its happiness acts better in the world, with less fear and no greed.

The practical use of the verse is to loosen our grip on what is passing. When we are crushed by a loss, it can help to recall that everything here is temporary; and when we are intoxicated by success, the same thought brings humility. We are invited to put our deepest hope in what does not change. This verse leads to 8.16, which compares the worlds up to Brahma's own realm with the Lord's abode, and echoes 2.27 and 5.22 on the sorrow in what has a beginning and an end.

Context

Verse 8.14 said the Lord is easily attained by the constant rememberer. Here is the fruit, freedom from rebirth, and the next verse compares it with the impermanence of all worlds up to Brahma's.

Life lesson

Everything in the world, however pleasant, changes. For lasting peace it is wise to turn the mind toward the changeless Reality.

Key terms

दुःखालय: abode of sorrow, this world of embodiment
अशाश्वत: impermanent, that which passes
महात्मा: great-souled one absorbed in God
परमा संसिद्धि: moksha, the highest perfection