🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 11.37

Chapter 11 · विश्वरूपदर्शनयोग · Viśvarūpa-Darśana-Yoga · "The Yoga of the Universal-Form Vision" · Verse 37 of 55

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कस्माच्च ते न नमेरन्महात्मन्

गरीयसे ब्रह्मणोऽप्यादिकर्त्रे।

अनन्त देवेश जगन्निवास

त्वमक्षरं सदसत्तत्परं यत्।।11.37।।
Bhagavad-Gītā 11.37 · the yathārtha śloka (Devanāgarī Sanskrit · canonical)

🪷 English Translations

Five authentic English voices · each from a distinct sampradāya · together revealing the verse's full śabda-tattva.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 · public domain · Cosmo Press tradition
11.37 How should they do otherwise? O Thou Supremest Self, greater than the Powers of creation, the First Cause, Infinite, the Lord of Lords, the Home of the universe, Imperishable, Being and Not-Being, yet transcending both.
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
11.37 And why should they not, O great Soul, bow to Thee Who art greater (than all else), the primal cause even of the Creator (Brahma), O Infinite Being, O Lord of the gods, O Abode of the universe; Thou art the imperishable, the Being, the non-being and That which is the supreme (that which is beyond the Being and the non-being).
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
11.37 Ca, and; since You are the Primal Creator, the Cause, api, even; brahmanah, of Brahma, of Hiranyagarbha; therefore, kasmat, why, for what reason; should they na nameran, not bow down; te, to You; mahatman, O exalted One; gariyase, who are greater (than all)! Hence, why should these not bow down adi-karte, to the first Creator? Therefore You are fit for, i.e. the fit object of, delight etc. and salutation as well. Ananta, O infinite One; devesa, supreme God; jagannivasa, Abode of the Universe; tvam, You; are the aksaram, Immutable; tat param yat, that which is Transcendental, which is heard of in the Upanisads;-what is that?-sad-asat, being and nonbeing. Being is that which exists, and non-being is that with regard to which the idea of nonexistence arises. (You are) that Immutable of which these two-being and non-being-become the limiting adjuncts; which (Immutable), as a result, is metaphorically referred to as being and non-being. But in reality that Immutable is transcendental to being and non-being. 'That Immutable which the knowers of the Vedas declare' (8.11; cf. Ka. 1.2.15)-that is You Yourself, nothing else. This is the idea. He praises again:
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
11.37 O Mahatman, for what reason should Brahma and others not bow down to You, who are great and are the First Being and the Creator even of Brahma, namely, Hiranyagarbha? O Infinite, O Lord of the gods, O You who have the universe for Your abode! You are the 'Aksara'. What does not perish, is the Aksara, here, the 'principle of individual self'; for the individual self does not perish as established in Sruti passages: 'The intelligent self is not born, nor dies' (Ka. U., 1.2.18). You alone are the 'existent and the non-existent,' the principle of Prakrti, in its condition as effect and in its condition as cause. This is denoted by the terms 'Sat' (existent) and 'Asat' (non-existent). You alone are the state of effect denoted by the term 'Sat', which is the state of diversification by names and forms, and also the state of cause, denoted by the tetm 'Asat', which is the state incapable of such divisions and diversities. 'What is beyond both' - what is beyond Prakrti and the individual self associated with the Prakrti, as also from the principle of liberated selves who are different from those associated with Prakrti, i.e., bound souls. You alone are that also. Therefore:
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
11.37. O Mighty One ! Why should they not bow down to You, the Primal Creater, Who are greater than even Brahma (personal god) ? O Endless One, O Lord of gods, O Abode of the universe ! You are unalterable, existent, non-existent and also that which is beyond both.

🪷 Hindi Translation · हिन्दी अनुवाद

For the Hindi-aware seer · Pūjya Swami Rāmsukhdās ji's translation · a high-readability modern Hindi rendering · Gītā-Press Gorakhpur tradition. (→ Full Mahāpurusha-detail page for the 102-year-living Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī Mahātmā.)

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī tradition · Gītā-Press Gorakhpur · highest modern Hindi reading
।।11.37।। हे महात्मन् ! गुरुओंके भी गुरु और ब्रह्माके भी आदिकर्ता आपके लिये (वे सिद्धगण) नमस्कार क्यों नहीं करें? क्योंकि हे अनन्त ! हे देवेश ! हे जगन्निवास ! आप अक्षरस्वरूप हैं; आप सत् भी हैं, असत् भी हैं, और सत्-असत् से पर भी जो कुछ है, वह भी आप ही हैं।

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

The classical commentary tradition rendered in English · each ācārya speaks from their own sampradāya · the seer chooses the depth of darśana.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
11.37 कस्मात् why? च and? ते they? न not? नमेरन् may prostrate? महात्मन् O greatsouled One? गरीयसे greater? ब्रह्मणः of Brahma? अपि also? आदिकर्त्रे the primal cause? अनन्त O Infinite Being? देवेश O Lord of the gods? जगन्निवास O Abode of the universe? त्वम् Thou? अक्षरम् Imperishable? सत् the Being? असत् nonbeing? तत् That? परम् the Supreme? यत् which.Commentary The Lord is Mahatma. He is greater than all else. He is the imperishable. So He is the proper object of worship? love and delight.That which exists in the three periods of time is Sat. Brahman is Sat. That which does not exist in the three periods of time is Asat. This world is Asat. This body is Asat.The words Sat and Asat mean here the manifested and the unmanifested which form the adjuncts of the Akshara (imperishable). In reality the Akshara transcends both these. The word Akshara is applied in the Gita sometimes to the Unmanifest (Nature) and sometimes to the Supreme Being.Ananta is He Who is free from the three kinds of limitations (of time? space and thing) which have already been explained.Arjuna again praises the Lord thus
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
11.37 Ca, and; since You are the Primal Creator, the Cause, api, even; brahmanah, of Brahma, of Hiranyagarbha; therefore, kasmat, why, for what reason; should they na nameran, not bow down; te, to You; mahatman, O exalted One; gariyase, who are greater (than all)! Hence, why should these not bow down adi-karte, to the first Creator? Therefore You are fit for, i.e. the fit object of, delight etc. and salutation as well. Ananta, O infinite One; devesa, supreme God; jagannivasa, Abode of the Universe; tvam, You; are the aksaram, Immutable; tat param yat, that which is Transcendental, which is heard of in the Upanisads;-what is that?-sad-asat, being and nonbeing. Being is that which exists, and non-being is that with regard to which the idea of nonexistence arises. (You are) that Immutable of which these two-being and non-being-become the limiting adjuncts; which (Immutable), as a result, is metaphorically referred to as being and non-being. But in reality that Immutable is transcendental to being and non-being. 'That Immutable which the knowers of the Vedas declare' (8.11; cf. Ka. 1.2.15)-that is You Yourself, nothing else. This is the idea. He praises again:
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
11.37 O Mahatman, for what reason should Brahma and others not bow down to You, who are great and are the First Being and the Creator even of Brahma, namely, Hiranyagarbha? O Infinite, O Lord of the gods, O You who have the universe for Your abode! You are the 'Aksara'. What does not perish, is the Aksara, here, the 'principle of individual self'; for the individual self does not perish as established in Sruti passages: 'The intelligent self is not born, nor dies' (Ka. U., 1.2.18). You alone are the 'existent and the non-existent,' the principle of Prakrti, in its condition as effect and in its condition as cause. This is denoted by the terms 'Sat' (existent) and 'Asat' (non-existent). You alone are the state of effect denoted by the term 'Sat', which is the state of diversification by names and forms, and also the state of cause, denoted by the tetm 'Asat', which is the state incapable of such divisions and diversities. 'What is beyond both' - what is beyond Prakrti and the individual self associated with the Prakrti, as also from the principle of liberated selves who are different from those associated with Prakrti, i.e., bound souls. You alone are that also. Therefore:
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
11.37 Kasmat etc. Existent (11.Sat) : i.e. as a purport of words (11.or as material object). Non-existent (11.Asat) : Because, the Absolute does not become an object of perception. Or Asat signifies negation; [in fact] it is also well connected with the words which denote it directly, or indicate it indirectly by denoting what contains it; it also enjoys a form (11.becomes an object) of knowledge (11.of its own); and [hence] is has no separate existence other than the existence of the Absolute Brahman ? (11.It is) beyond both the existent and non-existent : For, It is realised when the knowledge of both of them disappears. (11.38)
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।11.37।। वे सिद्ध संघ आपको नमस्कार कैसे नहीं करें क्योंकि आप तो सृष्टिकर्ता ब्रह्माजी के भी आदिकर्त्ता हैं। आदिकारण वह है जो सम्पूर्ण कार्यजगत् को व्याप्त करके समस्त नाम और रूपों को धारण करता है? जैसे घटों का कारण मिट्टी और आभूषणों का कारण स्वर्ण है। अनन्तस्वरूप परमात्मा न केवल यह विश्व है? बल्कि समस्त देवों का ईश्वर भी है? क्योंकि उसी सर्वशक्तिमान् परमात्मा से समस्त देवताओं को तथा प्राकृतिक शक्तियों को सार्मथ्य प्राप्त होती है।इस चराचर जगत् को दो भागों सत् और असत् में विभाजित किया जा सकता है। यहाँ सत् शब्द से अर्थ उन वस्तुओं से है? जो इन्द्रिय? मन और बुद्धि के द्वारा जानी जा सकती हैं? अर्थात् जो स्थूल और सूक्ष्म रूप में व्यक्त हैं। स्थूल विषय? भावनाएं और विचार व्यक्त (सत्) कहलाते हैं। इस व्यक्त का जो कारण है? उसे असत् अर्थात् अव्यक्त कहते हैं। व्यक्ति की जीवन पद्धति को नियन्त्रित करने वाला यह अव्यक्त कारण उस व्यक्ति के संस्कार या वासनाएं ही हैं। यहाँ परमात्मा की दी हुई परिभाषा के अनुसार वह सत् और असत् दोनों ही है। और वह इन दोनों से परे भी है।आप इनसे परे भी हैं नाट्यगृह के रंगमंच पर हो रहा नाटक सुखान्त अथवा दुखान्त हो सकता है? परन्तु उन्हें प्रकाशित करने वाला प्रकाश उन दोनों से ही परे होता है। अंगूठी और कण्ठी ये दोनों? निसन्देह स्वर्ण के बने हैं? किन्तु स्वर्ण की परिभाषा यह नहीं दी जा सकती है कि वह अंगूठी या कण्ठी है। वह ये दोनों आभूषण तो हैं ही? परन्तु इन दोनों से परे भी है। इस दृष्टि से? समस्त नामरूपों का सारतत्त्व होने से परमात्मा व्यक्त और अव्यक्त दोनों ही है और अपने स्वरूप की दृष्टि से इन दोनों से परे अक्षर स्वरूप है। वह? अक्षरतत्त्व चैतन्य स्वरूप है? जो स्थूल और सूक्ष्म दोनों का ही प्रकाशक है। इसी अक्षर ने ही यह विराट्रूप धारण किया है? जिसकी स्तुति अर्जुन कर रहा है।प्रस्तुत खण्ड? विश्व के सभी धर्मों में उपलब्ध सार्वभौमिक प्रार्थनाओं का प्रतिनिधित्व करता है। किसी भी धर्म या जाति के लोगों को इसके प्रति कोई आक्षेप नहीं हो सकता? क्योंकि सनातन सत्य के विषय में जो कुछ भी प्रतिपादित सिद्धांत है? उसका ही सार यह खण्ड है। यह भक्त के हृदय को प्राय अप्रमेय की सीमा तक ऊँचा उठा सकता है। भक्त उसे साक्षात् अनुभव कर सकता है। अर्जुन भगवान् की स्तुति करते हुए कहता है

🪷 Hindi Vyākhyā · हिन्दी व्याख्या

Pūjya Swami Rāmsukhdās ji's Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī · one of the great modern Hindi vyākhyās of the Gītā · direct, pure, deeply Vedāntic · the modern Sanātana-jāgaraṇa. (→ Full Mahāpurusha-detail page · 1904-2005 · Corner 1 Mādhurya operational anchor · whose 6-lakṣaṇa-śaraṇāgati IS Constitutional Principle 24.)

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī · Hindi vyākhyā · the modern bilingual anchor
।।11.37।। व्याख्या--'कस्माच्च ते न नमेरन्महात्मन् गरीयसे ब्रह्मणोऽप्यादिकर्त्रे'--आदिरूपसे प्रकट होनेवाले महान् स्वरूप आपको (पूर्वोक्त सिद्धगण) नमस्कार क्यों न करें? नमस्कार दोको किया जाता है -- (1) जिनसे मनुष्यको शिक्षा मिलती है, प्रकाश मिलता है; ऐसे आचार्य, गुरुजन आदिको नमस्कार किया जाता है और (2) जिनसे हमारा जन्म हुआ है, उन माता-पिताको तथा आयु, विद्या आदिमें अपनेसे बड़े पुरुषोंको नमस्कार किया जाता है। अर्जुन कहते हैं कि आप गुरुओंके भी गुरु हैं--'गरीयसे' (टिप्पणी प0 600.1) और आप सृष्टिकी रचना करनेवाले पितामह ब्रह्माजीको भी उत्पन्न करनेवाले हैं -- 'ब्रह्मणोऽप्यादिकर्त्रे।' अतः सिद्ध महापुरुष आपको नमस्कार करें, यह उचित ही है।

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Chicago: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 11.37." Vidhyāmitra. Accessed 2026-07-28. https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/11/37.
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सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)