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:

Transliteration

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

Translation

Vāyu nói: Ai chứng ngộ Tự Ngã là điều chưa từng có trước (vô thủy), không do tạo tác (vô sinh), vĩnh hằng, bất động, vượt ngoài sự nắm bắt, và được nuôi dưỡng bởi bất tử—nhờ quán niệm chính những phẩm tính ấy—thì tự thân cũng trở nên vượt ngoài giác quan, vững chãi, và an trụ trong thực tại bất tử.

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.