🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 4.6

Chapter 4 · ज्ञानकर्मसंन्यासयोग · Jñāna-Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · "The Yoga of Knowledge & Action-Renunciation" · Verse 6 of 42

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अजोऽपि सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्वरोऽपि सन्।

प्रकृतिं स्वामधिष्ठाय संभवाम्यात्ममायया।।4.6।।
— Bhagavad-Gītā 4.6 · 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
4.6 have no beginning. Though I am imperishable, as well as Lord of all that exists, yet by My own will and power do I manifest Myself.
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
4.6 Though I am unborn, of imperishable nature, and though I am the Lord of all beings, yet, governing My own Nature, I am born by My own Maya.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
4.6 Api, san ajah, though I am birthless; and avyayatma, undecaying by nature, though I am naturally possessed of an undiminishing power of Knowledge; and so also api san, though; isvarah, the Lord, natural Ruler; bhutanam, of beings, from Brahma to a clump of grass; (still) adhisthaya, by subjugating; svam, My own; prakrtim, Prakrti, the Maya of Visnu consisting of the three gunas, under whose; spell the whole world exists, and deluded by which one does not know one's own Self, Vasudeva;-by subjugating that Prakrti of Mine, sambhavami, I take birth, appear to become embodeid, as though born; atma-mayaya, by means of My own Maya; but not in reality like an ordinary man. It is being stated when and why that birth occurs:
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
4.6 Without forsaking any of the My special alities, as supreme rulership, birthless, imperishability etc., I am born by My free will. Prakrti means one's own nature. The meaning is that by employment of My own Nature and taking a form of My choice, I incarnate by My own will (Maya). The character of My own Nature becomes evident from the following Srutis: 'Him who is of sun-like colour, beyond darkness (Tamas)' (Sve. U., 3.8), 'Him who abides beyond Rajas (active matter)' (Sama 17.1.4.2); 'This Golden Person who is within the sun' (Cha. U. 1.6.6); 'Within the heart, there is the Person consisting of mind, immortal and golden' (Tai. U. 1.6.1); 'All mortal creatures have come from the self-luminous Person' (Yaj., 32.2); 'Whose form is light, whose will is truth, who is the self of ethereal space, who contains all actions, contains all desires, contains all odours, contains all tastes' (Cha. U., 3.14.2); 'Like a raiment of golden colour' (Br. U., 4.3.6). 'Atma-mayaya' means through the Maya which belongs to Myself. Here the term Maya is identical with knowledge as stated in the lexicon of Yaska: 'Maya is wisdom, knowledge.' Further there is the usage of competent people: 'By Maya, He knows the good and bad of his creatures.' Hence by My own knowledge means 'by My will.' Hence, without abandoning My essential attributes which belong to Me the Lord of all, such as being free of sins, having auspicious attributes etc., and creating My own form similar to the configuration of gods, men etc., I incarnate in the form of gods etc. The Sruti teaches the same thing: 'Being unborn, He is born in various forms' (Tai. A., 3.12.7). The purport is that His birth is ite unlike that of ordinary beings. The dissimilarity consists in that He is born out of His own will unlike ordinary beings whose birth is necessitated by their Karma. Thus constured, there is no contradiction also between what was taught earlier and what is taught later as in the statements: 'Many births of Mine have passed, O Arjuna, and similarly yours also. I know them all' (4.5); 'I incarnate Myself' (4.7); and 'He who thus knows in truth My birth and work' (4.9). [All this elaboration is meant to refute the doctrine of mere apparency of incarnations as taught by the Advaitins. Ramanuja, as stated in his Introduction to the Bhasya, upholds the absolute reality of incarnations.] Sri Krsna now specifies the times of His incarnations.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
4.6. Though [I am] unborn and the changeless Self; though I am the the Lord of [all] beings; yet presiding over My own nature I take birth by My own Trick-of-illusion.

🪷 Hindi Translation · हिन्दी अनुवाद

For the Hindi-aware seer · Pūjya Swami Rāmsukhdās ji's translation · the highest-readability modern Hindi rendering · Gītā-Press Gorakhpur tradition.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī tradition · Gītā-Press Gorakhpur · highest modern Hindi reading
।।4.6।। मैं अजन्मा और अविनाशी-स्वरूप होते हुए भी तथा सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंका ईश्वर होते हुए भी अपनी प्रकृतिको अधीन करके अपनी योगमायासे प्रकट होता हूँ।

🪷 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
4.6 अजः unborn? अपि also? सन् being? अव्ययात्मा of imperishable nature? भूतानाम् of beings? ईश्वरः the Lord? अपि also? सन् being? प्रकृतिम् Nature? स्वाम् My own? अधिष्ठाय governing? संभवामि come into being? आत्ममायया by My own Maya.Commentary Man is bound by Karma. So he takes birth. He is under the clutches of Nature. He,is deluded by the three alities of Nature whereas the Lord has Maya under His perfect control. He rules over Nature? and so He is not under the thraldom of the alities o Nature. He appears to be born and embodied through His own Maya or illusory power? but is not so in reality. His embodiment is ? as a matter of fact? apparent? It cannot affect in the least His true divine nature. (Cf.IX.8).
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
4.6 Api, san ajah, though I am birthless; and avyayatma, undecaying by nature, though I am naturally possessed of an undiminishing power of Knowledge; and so also api san, though; isvarah, the Lord, natural Ruler; bhutanam, of beings, from Brahma to a clump of grass; (still) adhisthaya, by subjugating; svam, My own; prakrtim, Prakrti, the Maya of Visnu consisting of the three gunas, under whose; spell the whole world exists, and deluded by which one does not know one's own Self, Vasudeva;-by subjugating that Prakrti of Mine, sambhavami, I take birth, appear to become embodeid, as though born; atma-mayaya, by means of My own Maya; but not in reality like an ordinary man. It is being stated when and why that birth occurs:
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
4.6 Without forsaking any of the My special alities, as supreme rulership, birthless, imperishability etc., I am born by My free will. Prakrti means one's own nature. The meaning is that by employment of My own Nature and taking a form of My choice, I incarnate by My own will (Maya). The character of My own Nature becomes evident from the following Srutis: 'Him who is of sun-like colour, beyond darkness (Tamas)' (Sve. U., 3.8), 'Him who abides beyond Rajas (active matter)' (Sama 17.1.4.2); 'This Golden Person who is within the sun' (Cha. U. 1.6.6); 'Within the heart, there is the Person consisting of mind, immortal and golden' (Tai. U. 1.6.1); 'All mortal creatures have come from the self-luminous Person' (Yaj., 32.2); 'Whose form is light, whose will is truth, who is the self of ethereal space, who contains all actions, contains all desires, contains all odours, contains all tastes' (Cha. U., 3.14.2); 'Like a raiment of golden colour' (Br. U., 4.3.6). 'Atma-mayaya' means through the Maya which belongs to Myself. Here the term Maya is identical with knowledge as stated in the lexicon of Yaska: 'Maya is wisdom, knowledge.' Further there is the usage of competent people: 'By Maya, He knows the good and bad of his creatures.' Hence by My own knowledge means 'by My will.' Hence, without abandoning My essential attributes which belong to Me the Lord of all, such as being free of sins, having auspicious attributes etc., and creating My own form similar to the configuration of gods, men etc., I incarnate in the form of gods etc. The Sruti teaches the same thing: 'Being unborn, He is born in various forms' (Tai. A., 3.12.7). The purport is that His birth is ite unlike that of ordinary beings. The dissimilarity consists in that He is born out of His own will unlike ordinary beings whose birth is necessitated by their Karma. Thus constured, there is no contradiction also between what was taught earlier and what is taught later as in the statements: 'Many births of Mine have passed, O Arjuna, and similarly yours also. I know them all' (4.5); 'I incarnate Myself' (4.7); and 'He who thus knows in truth My birth and work' (4.9). [All this elaboration is meant to refute the doctrine of mere apparency of incarnations as taught by the Advaitins. Ramanuja, as stated in his Introduction to the Bhasya, upholds the absolute reality of incarnations.] Sri Krsna now specifies the times of His incarnations.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
4.6 See Comment under 4.9
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।4.6।। परमेश्वर अपनी निर्बाध स्वतन्त्रता और पूर्ण स्वेच्छा से एक विशिष्ट देह को धारण करके जगत् में उस काल की मोहित पीढी का मार्गदर्शन करने आते हैं। अज्ञानी के समान देहादि के बन्धन में रहना उनके लिये वास्तविकता न होकर एक नाटक की भूमिका के समान है। र्मत्य जीव अविद्या का शिकार बनता है जबकि ईश्वर स्वमाया के स्वामी बने रहते हैं। कार का चालक कार से बंधा रहता है और उसका स्वामी स्वतन्त्र। वाहन का स्वामी अपने प्रयोजन के लिये वाहन का उपयोग करता है और गन्तव्य स्थान पर पहुँचने पर उसे छोड़कर अपने कार्य में व्यस्त हो जाता है। परन्तु बेचारा चालक चोर आदि लोगों से उसको सुरक्षित रखने के लिये एक सेवक के समान उस कार से बंधा रहता है। सृष्टि की रक्षा के खेल में भगवान् इन उपाधियों तथा तज्जनित परिच्छिन्नताओं को साधन रूप में स्वीकारते हैं किन्तु स्वयं उनके दास अथवा शिकार नहीं बन जाते।इस प्रकार स्वस्वरूप में अज और अविनाशी तथा प्राणिमात्र के ईश्वर होते हुये भी भगवान् अपनी माया को पूर्णत अपने वश में रखकर स्वेच्छा से जन्म लेते हैं जीव के समान पूर्व कर्मों के अवश्यंभावी फलों को भोगने के लिये नहीं। उन्हें न स्वस्वरूप का विस्मरण है और न माया का बन्धन है।आप अपने सेवक से स्कूटर में पेट्रोल भरवाकर लाने के लिये कहकर फिर उसे काम करते देखिये तो इस श्लोक में कथित अर्थ को आप समझ सकते हैं। स्कूटर के विषय में अनजान उस बेचारे के लिये वह भारी मशीन एक बोझ और दुख का कारण ही बन जाती है। स्कूटर के भार के कारण उसे खींचकर ले जाना कठिन होता है। इसके विपरीत यदि आप स्कूटर पर बैठकर उसे चला रहे हों अथवा उसे धक्का भी देना पड़े तो भी आप उसे सहर्ष और सरलता से ले जा सकते हैं। स्कूटर तो वही है परन्तु आपके हाथों में वह आपका दास है और अनुचर को तो वह स्वयं इधरउधर खींचकर ले जाने वाला भार है।इसी प्रकार अज्ञानी मनुष्य अपनी उपाधियों के कार्यों के विषय में कुछ नहीं जानता और इसलिये उनकी दास बना रहता है। ईश्वर के लिये जगत् कोई समस्या नहीं क्योंकि वे प्रकृति को सर्वथा अपने वश में रखते हैं। ईश्वर के पूर्ण स्वातन्त्र्य को इन दो पंक्तियों में अत्यन्त सुन्दर शैली में व्यक्त किया गया है।ईश्वर का यह जन्म कब और किसलिये होता है इस पर कहते हैं

🪷 Hindi Vyākhyā · हिन्दी व्याख्या

Pūjya Swami Rāmsukhdās ji's Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī · one of the greatest modern Hindi vyākhyās of the Gītā · direct, pure, deeply Vedāntic · the modern Sanātana-jāgaraṇa.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Sādhaka-Sañjīvanī · Hindi vyākhyā · the modern bilingual anchor
4.6।। व्याख्या--[यह छठा श्लोक है और इसमें छः बातोंका ही वर्णन हुआ है। अज, अव्यय और ईश्वर--ये तीन बातें भगवान्की हैं, (टिप्पणी प0 217) प्रकृति और योगमाया--ये दो बातें भगवान्की शक्तिकी हैं और एक बात भगवान्के प्रकट होनेकी है।]

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