न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिनं न्भवतो भविता वा न भूयः। अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे।।2.20।।
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācitam naṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ; ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
Translation
The soul is never born nor does it ever die; having once existed it does not cease to be. It is unborn, eternal, permanent, ancient, and is not destroyed even when the body is killed.
Word Meanings
na — never; jāyate — is born; mriyate — dies; vā — either; kadācitam — at any time (past, present or future); na — never; ayam — this; bhūtvā — having come into being; bhavitā — will become; vā — or; na — not; bhūyaḥ — again coming to be; ajaḥ — unborn; nityaḥ — eternal; śāśvataḥ — permanent; ayaṁ — this; purāṇaḥ — ancient; na — never; hanyate — is killed; hanyamānaḥ — being killed; śarīre — body
Understanding the Verse
This verse addresses one of the most profound philosophical questions raised in the Bhagavad Gita: the nature of the soul (Ātman). Arjuna, bewildered by the prospect of fighting his own relatives, wonders how the death of a body can affect the true self. Krishna’s response, encapsulated in this shloka, clarifies that the soul is beyond the cycle of birth and death. The opening clause, ‘na jāyate mriyate vā kadācitam’, asserts that the soul never undergoes birth (jāyate) or death (mriyate) at any point in time (kadācitam).
The phrase ‘naṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ’ reinforces this idea by stating that once the soul has come into existence (bhūtvā), it does not come into being again (bhavitā) nor does it cease to exist (na bhūyaḥ). This negates any notion of reincarnation of the soul itself; rather, it emphasizes the soul’s immutable existence. Krishna uses the terms ‘ajo’ (unborn) and ‘nitya’ (eternal) to describe the soul’s timeless quality, indicating that it is not subject to temporal constraints.
‘Śāśvataḥ’ (permanent) and ‘purāṇaḥ’ (ancient) further highlight the soul’s continuity across ages. While the body is perishable and subject to destruction, the soul remains untouched. The concluding part, ‘na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre’, explicitly states that even when the body (śarīra) is killed (hanyamāna), the soul is not destroyed (na hanyate). This underscores the distinction between the physical and the spiritual, assuring Arjuna that the essential self remains intact despite the physical demise of the warrior’s form.
Philosophically, this verse aligns with the Upanishadic concept of the Ātman as Sat‑Chit‑Ananda (existence, consciousness, bliss). It conveys that the soul is the true identity of a being, immutable and indestructible, thereby providing a foundation for the duties of righteous action (dharma) without attachment to outcomes. By recognizing the soul’s eternal nature, a seeker can transcend fear of death and focus on self‑realisation. This understanding is pivotal for the subsequent teachings on yoga, devotion, and the path to liberation that unfold in later chapters of the Gita.
