Chapter 4, Verse 6
अजोऽपि सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्वरोऽपि सन् | प्रकृतिं स्वामधिष्ठाय सम्भवाम्यात्ममायया ||४-६||
ajo.api sannavyayātmā bhūtānāmīśvaro.api san . prakṛtiṃ svāmadhiṣṭhāya sambhavāmyātmamāyayā ||4-6||
Meaning
4.6 Though I am unborn, of imperishable nature, and though I am the Lord of all beings, yet, governing My own Nature, I am born by My own Maya.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna unveils the paradox of divine incarnation. He is aja — unborn — and avyaya — imperishable — yet He appears in the world through ātma-māyā, His own divine power. Unlike ordinary beings who are forced into birth by karma and forgetfulness, the Lord descends freely, fully in command of His nature (prakṛti), never subject to it.
The key distinction is mastery. We are born because we must; the divine is 'born' because it chooses to. Māyā here is not delusion but the sovereign creative power by which the formless takes form to serve a purpose. This is the meaning of avatāra — not a falling into bondage but a deliberate descent of grace, the eternal stepping into time while remaining untouched by it.
💡 Key Takeaway
The divine enters the world not out of compulsion but by free choice, remaining the master of its own nature.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन | तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप ||४-५||
śrībhagavānuvāca . bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna . tānyahaṃ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṃ vettha parantapa ||4-5||
4.5 The Blessed Lord said Many births of Mine have passed as well as of thine, O Arjuna; I know them all but thou knowest not, O Parantapa (scorcher of foes).
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् | धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ||४-८||
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṃ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām . dharmasaṃsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge ||4-8||
4.8 For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of righteousness, I am born in every age.
जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः | त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन ||४-९||
janma karma ca me divyamevaṃ yo vetti tattvataḥ . tyaktvā dehaṃ punarjanma naiti māmeti so.arjuna ||4-9||
4.9 He who thus know, in their true light, My divine birth and action, having abandoned the body, is not born again, he comes to Me, O Arjuna.