Spiritual clarity begins with correct definitions.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
श्रीभगवानुवाच |अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते |भूतभावोद्भवकरो विसर्गः कर्मसंज्ञितः ||८-३||
śrībhagavānuvāca . akṣaraṃ brahma paramaṃ svabhāvo.adhyātmamucyate . bhūtabhāvodbhavakaro visargaḥ karmasaṃjñitaḥ ||8-3||
Use this verse as a key terms explainer.
Meaning
The Blessed Lord said: The imperishable is supreme Brahman; one’s own essential nature is called adhyatma; the creative offering that brings beings into existence is called karma.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Krishna defines Brahman, adhyatma, and karma.
Word-by-word meaning
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Explanation
Krishna answers with precision. Brahman is the imperishable reality. Adhyatma is the inner essential nature. Karma is not merely activity; it is the creative movement through which beings and situations arise.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna begins answering with precision. The supreme, imperishable reality is Brahman (akshara). Its expression as one's own essential nature — the eternal Self at the core of every being — is adhyatma. And the creative impulse (visarga) that brings beings into existence and sustains them is what we call karma, action.
With three crisp definitions, Krishna links the cosmic and the personal. Brahman is not a distant abstraction; its very nature is the Self that lives within us. And karma is not merely ritual or labor but the fundamental creative force by which life unfolds.
The teaching here is that the highest truth, the innermost self, and the activity of existence are not separate domains but facets of one reality. To know this is to begin seeing the divine ground beneath all that is born, sustained, and acts.
In daily life
Understand terms before applying them to your life.
A person confused about karma can learn that it includes creative cause and consequence, not just punishment.
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Create a small glossary note for Brahman, adhyatma, and karma.
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Quick check
What does ‘अध्यात्मम् उच्यते’ mean in this verse?
The Gita on self, in other chapters
- Verse 13.15Like light that reveals every colour yet takes on none, the Self enables all experience while remaining untouched.
- Verse 11.4 · ArjunaAsk for the highest with bold longing, yet leave the granting humbly to the Divine's wisdom.
- Verse 3.42Govern the lower from the higher — senses by mind, mind by intellect, and all by the Self that is your deepest, truest identity.
- Verse 4.5We forget our past lives and deeper nature; spiritual growth is the slow recovery of the awareness we keep losing.
Swipe left for 8.4 · The body itself can become a field of divine offering.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 8.3
Who says Bhagavad Gita 8.3, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 8.3, in Chapter 8, Aksara Brahma Yoga (Aksara Brahma Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 8.3 mean?
The Blessed Lord said: The imperishable is supreme Brahman; one’s own essential nature is called adhyatma; the creative offering that brings beings into existence is called karma. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 8.3 for daily life?
Understand terms before applying them to your life. A person confused about karma can learn that it includes creative cause and consequence, not just punishment.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 8.3 mean?
अक्षरम् — the imperishable; ब्रह्म परमम् — the Supreme Brahman; स्वभावः — one's own essential nature; अध्यात्मम् उच्यते — is called adhyatma (Self-knowledge); भूतभावोद्भवकरः — causing the existence and birth of beings.
Where does verse 8.3 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 3 of 28 in Chapter 8, Aksara Brahma Yoga. The next verse is 8.4.