Chapter 2, Verse 20
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः | अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥२०॥
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ | ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṃ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre ||20||
Meaning
The soul is never born nor dies at any time. It has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. It is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, and primeval. It is not slain when the body is slain.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
This is one of the most important verses in the entire Bhagavad Gita — perhaps in all of world spiritual literature. In a single verse, Krishna articulates the foundation of Vedantic philosophy: the immortality of the individual soul.
Each quality named in this verse deserves deep reflection: - 'Not born': The soul has no origin in time. It was not created; it simply is. - 'Does not die': Death applies to bodies, not to consciousness itself. - 'Unborn' (aja): Without origin, and therefore without end. - 'Eternal' (nitya): Existing in all time. - 'Ever-existing' (shasvata): Unbroken continuity. - 'Primeval' (purana): Ancient beyond measure — the oldest thing. - 'Not slain when the body is slain': Physical death is simply the soul departing one vehicle and eventually taking another.
This teaching is the entire basis for Krishna's encouragement that Arjuna should not grieve. If the soul of his relatives cannot be destroyed, the most fundamental fear — the fear of total annihilation — is baseless.
For modern seekers: this verse invites a profound shift in self-identification. What if the deepest thing you are is not your body, not your mind, not your memories, not your personality — but something that was never born and will never die? What would it change in how you live today?
💡 Key Takeaway
The soul — your deepest nature — was never born and will never die. Death is a transition for the body, not the end of consciousness.
Related Verses
न हि प्रपश्यामि ममापनुद्याद् यच्छोकमुच्छोषणमिन्द्रियाणाम् । अवाप्य भूमावसपत्नमृद्धं राज्यं सुराणामपि चाधिपत्यम् ॥२-८॥
na hi prapaśyāmi mamāpanudyād yac chokam ucchoṣaṇam indriyāṇām | avāpya bhūmāv asapatnam ṛddhaṃ rājyaṃ surāṇām api cādhipatyam ||2-8||
I do not see what will remove this grief which is drying up my senses, even if I were to obtain an unrivaled and prosperous kingdom on earth or even lordship over the gods.
तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत । सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः ॥२-१०॥
tam uvāca hṛṣīkeśaḥ prahasann iva bhārata | senayor ubhayor madhye viṣīdantam idaṃ vacaḥ ||2-10||
O descendant of Bharata, Hrishikesha, smiling gently, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna between the two armies.
श्रीभगवानुवाच | अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे | गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः ॥११॥
śrī bhagavān uvāca | aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṃ prajñāvādāṃś ca bhāṣase | gatāsūn agatāsūṃś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ ||11||
The Blessed Lord said: You are grieving for those who should not be grieved for, yet you speak words of wisdom. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.