Chapter 11 · Verse 37

Yoga through Beholding the Cosmic Form of God

कस्माच्च ते न नमेरन्महात्मन् गरीयसे ब्रह्मणोऽप्यादिकर्त्रे। अनन्त देवेश जगन्निवास त्वमक्षरं सदसत्तत्परं यत्

kasmāch cha te na nameran mahātman garīyase brahmaṇo ’py ādi-kartre ananta deveśha jagan-nivāsa tvam akṣharaṁ sad-asat tat paraṁ yat

Word Meanings

kasmāt — why; cha — and; te — you; na nameran — should they not bow down; mahā-ātman — The Great one; garīyase — who are greater; brahmaṇaḥ — than Brahma; api — even; ādi-kartre — to the original creator; ananta — The limitless One; deva-īśha — Lord of the devatās; jagat-nivāsa — Refuge of the universe; tvam — you; akṣharam — the imperishable; sat-asat — manifest and non-manifest; tat — that; param — beyond; yat — which

Language:

Translation

And why should they not bow to You, O Great Soul, who are greater even than Brahma, the original creator of all? O Infinite One, Lord of the gods, Refuge of the universe—You are the imperishable, the manifest and the unmanifest, and that which lies beyond both.

Commentary

कस्मात् why? च and? ते they? न not? नमेरन् may prostrate? महात्मन् O greatsouled One? गरीयसे greater? ब्रह्मणः of Brahma? अपि also? आदिकर्त्रे the primal cause? अनन्त O Infinite Being? देवेश O Lord of the gods? जगन्निवास O Abode of the universe? त्वम् Thou? अक्षरम् Imperishable? सत् the Being? असत् nonbeing? तत् That? परम् the Supreme? यत् which.Commentary The Lord is Mahatma. He is greater than all else. He is the imperishable. So He is the proper object of worship? love and delight.That which exists in the three periods of time is Sat. Brahman is Sat. That which does not exist in the three periods of time is Asat. This world is Asat. This body is Asat.The words Sat and Asat mean here the manifested and the unmanifested which form the adjuncts of the Akshara (imperishable). In reality the Akshara transcends both these. The word Akshara is applied in the Gita sometimes to the Unmanifest (Nature) and sometimes to the Supreme Being.Ananta is He Who is free from the three kinds of limitations (of time? space and thing) which have already been explained.Arjuna again praises the Lord thus