Shloka 34

Adhyāya 51: Kṛṣṇa’s Leave-Taking and Departure for Dvārakā (द्वारकागमनानुमति)

Devanagari script

अपूर्वमकृतं नित्यं य एनमविचारिणम्‌ | य एवं विन्देदात्मानमग्राह्मममृताशनम्‌ । अग्राह्मोड्मृतो भवति स एशभि: कारणैर्ध्ुव:,जिसकी दृष्टिमें आत्मा अपूर्व (अनादि), अकृत (अजन्मा), नित्य, अचल, अग्राह्म और अमृताशी है, वह इन गुणोंका चिन्तन करनेसे स्वयं भी अग्राह्म (इन्द्रियातीत), निश्चल एवं अमृतस्वरूप हो जाता है

Transliteration

apūrvam akṛtaṁ nityaṁ ya enam avicāriṇam | ya evaṁ vinded ātmānam agrāhyam amṛtāśanam || agrāhyo 'mṛto bhavati sa eṣabhiḥ kāraṇair dhruvaḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu said: Whoever realizes the Self as unprecedented (beginningless), unmade (unborn), eternal, unmoving, beyond grasp, and nourished by immortality—by contemplating these very attributes—becomes himself beyond the reach of the senses, steady, and established in the deathless reality.

Word by Word

• {'apūrvam': 'unprecedented

• beginningless (not newly produced)', 'akṛtam': 'unmade

• unborn', 'nityam': 'eternal

• constant', 'avicāriṇam': 'unmoving

• not subject to change or wandering (also: not to be doubted/argued over, depending on reading)', 'ātmānam': 'the Self

• inner essence', 'vindet (vinded)': 'finds

• knows directly', 'agrāhyam': 'not graspable

• beyond the senses and mind’s grasp', 'amṛtāśanam': 'having immortality as its ‘food’

• sustained by the deathless (i.e., not dependent on perishable nourishment)', 'amṛtaḥ': 'deathless

• immortal', 'dhruvaḥ': 'firm

• certain', 'guṇa-cintana (implied by Hindi gloss)': 'contemplation of qualities/attributes (nididhyāsana-like reflection)'}

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva
• Ātman (the Self)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Direct realization of the Self as unborn, eternal, unmoving, and beyond sensory grasp transforms the seeker: by sustained contemplation of these attributes, one becomes steady and established in the deathless (amṛta) nature rather than identifying with perishable body-mind processes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is speaking in a didactic passage, presenting a contemplative definition of the Ātman and stating the ethical-spiritual consequence: knowledge and meditation on the Self’s changeless qualities lead the practitioner toward sense-transcendence, inner stability, and freedom from fear of death.