Bhagavad Gita · Sankhya YogaChapter 2, Shloka 20 (2.20)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचित्
नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे
॥ 2.20 ॥
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācit
nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato'yaṃ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
Translation
"This (self) is never born, nor does it die; nor, having come to be, will it ever cease to be. It is unborn, eternal, everlasting and ancient; it is not slain when the body is slain."
Interpretation
Six modifications — all denied. Madhusudana Saraswati quotes the "six modifications of being" from the Nirukta tradition (Varshyayani): being born, existing, growing, changing form, declining, and perishing. The shloka denies them all:
- na jāyate — no birth;
- na mriyate — no death;
- ajaḥ — unborn; nityaḥ — eternal; śāśvataḥ — always the same (no declining); purāṇaḥ — ancient (no growing — "pura api navaḥ", new even before).
"Purāṇa" — ancient yet new. The word purāṇa has a traditional derivation — purā api navaḥ — "new even before". That is, though ancient, the self never grows "old and worn".
"Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre" — the body may be slain, not the self. The last line of the shloka is a direct answer to Arjuna's question. Ramanuja: birth and death — which are experienced in all bodies — are properties of the insentient body; they never touch the self.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.