Krishna transcends all categories.
Arjuna speaks to Krishna
कस्माच्च ते न नमेरन्महात्मन्गरीयसे ब्रह्मणोऽप्यादिकर्त्रे |अनन्त देवेश जगन्निवासत्वमक्षरं सदसत्तत्परं यत् ||११-३७||
kasmācca te na nameranmahātman garīyase brahmaṇo.apyādikartre . ananta deveśa jagannivāsa tvamakṣaraṃ sadasattatparaṃ yat ||11-37||
Use this verse for concept-free contemplation.
Meaning
Why should they not bow to You, O great one, greater even than Brahma, the original creator? O infinite Lord of gods, abode of the universe, You are the imperishable, beyond being and non-being.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Arjuna praises Krishna as beyond being and non-being.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Arjuna’s language reaches beyond ordinary categories. Krishna is not limited by existence as the mind understands it; He is the imperishable ground beyond categories.
Read the traditional commentary
Arjuna's reverence now finds full voice in philosophy. Why should beings not bow, he asks, to the one who is adi-kartre — the original cause even of Brahma the creator? Krishna is greater than the greatest, the source from which the source itself arises. He heaps on titles of infinity: Ananta, the endless; Devesa, Lord of gods; Jagannivasa, dwelling-place of all worlds.
The verse climbs to a profound metaphysical height. Krishna is aksaram, the imperishable; He is sat and asat — both the manifest being and the unmanifest non-being — and yet tat param yat, that which transcends even these. This is the language by which the Upanishads point beyond all categories to the ultimate Reality.
Arjuna has moved from describing what he sees to declaring what Krishna is. His fear has been transmuted into theology, his trembling into adoration. The seeker too, on this path, finds that genuine awe ripens naturally into the deepest understanding of the Supreme.
In daily life
Do not reduce ultimate reality to mental concepts.
A thinker may understand ideas about God but still need humility before what cannot be conceptually contained.
Try this today
Sit silently without trying to define Krishna.
Krishna is beyond all my concepts.Reflect
Where do I over-conceptualize Krishna?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘सदसत्’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on imperishable, in other chapters
- Verse 8.20Beyond every cycle of creation and dissolution abides an eternal reality that remains untouched when all else perishes.
- Verse 13.28True seeing is recognising the same deathless presence dwelling equally in every being.
- Verse 7.9The same divine life glows in every creature and fuels every sincere effort — let that recognition deepen your reverence.
- Verse 9.11Do not judge the sacred by its outward appearance; the divine often comes clothed in the humble and ordinary.
Swipe left for 11.38 · All knowing finds completion in Krishna.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 11.37
Who says Bhagavad Gita 11.37, and to whom?
Arjuna speaks to Krishna in verse 11.37, in Chapter 11, Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga (Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 11.37 mean?
Why should they not bow to You, O great one, greater even than Brahma, the original creator? O infinite Lord of gods, abode of the universe, You are the imperishable, beyond being and non-being. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 11.37 for daily life?
Do not reduce ultimate reality to mental concepts. A thinker may understand ideas about God but still need humility before what cannot be conceptually contained.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 11.37 mean?
कस्मात् च — and why; ते न नमेरन् — should they not bow to You; महात्मन् — O great Soul; गरीयसे — to the greater (one); ब्रह्मणः अपि आदिकर्त्रे — even the original creator of Brahma.
Where does verse 11.37 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 37 of 55 in Chapter 11, Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga. The next verse is 11.38.