🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 8.1

Chapter 8 · अक्षरब्रह्मयोग · Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga · "The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman" · Verse 1 of 28

अर्जुन उवाच

किं तद्ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम।

अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तमधिदैवं किमुच्यते।।8.1।।
— Bhagavad-Gītā 8.1 · Devanāgarī root text

🪷 English Translations

5 received English translations are available for this śloka. Each voice is labelled; no single rendering is presented as the Sanskrit itself.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 edition attribution in the received data
8.1 "Arjuna asked: O Lord of Lords! What is that which men call the Supreme Spirit, what is man's Spiritual Nature, and what is the Law? What is Matter and what is Divinity?
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
8.1 Arjuna said What is that Brahman? What is Adhyatma? What is action, O best among men? What is declared to be Adhibhuta? And, what is Adhidaiva said to be?
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
8.1 See Commentary under 8.2.
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
8.1 8.2 Arjuna said What are that brahman, Adhyatma and Karma which have been mentioned as what should be known by those who aspire for release from old age and death while they take refuge with the Lord? What are Adhibuta and Adhidaiva, which should be known by the aspirants for wealth? Who is Adhiyajna that is to be known by the three groups as their dying hour. In what manner are You to be known by these three groups who are self-controlled?
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
8.1. Arjuna Said What is that Brahman ? What is termed the Lord-of-the-self (adhyatma) ? What is action ? O the Best-of-persons ! What is stated to be the Lord-of -material-things (adhibhuta) ? What is called Lord-of-divinities (adhidaiva) ?

🪷 Hindi Translation · हिन्दी अनुवाद

Received Hindi rendering attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi rendering · source-data attribution
।।8.1 -- 8.2।। अर्जुन बोले -- हे पुरुषोत्तम ! वह ब्रह्म क्या है? अध्यात्म क्या है? कर्म क्या है? अधिभूत किसको कहा गया है? और अधिदैव किसको कहा जाता है? यहाँ अधियज्ञ कौन है और वह इस देहमें कैसे है? हे मधूसूदन ! नियतात्मा (वशीभूत अंतःकरण वाले) मनुष्यके द्वारा अन्तकालमें आप कैसे जाननेमें आते हैं?

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

5 received English commentary layers are available for this śloka. Open only the voice you wish to study.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
8.1 किम् what? तत् that? ब्रह्म Brahman? किम् what? अध्यात्मम् Adhytama? किम् what? कर्म action? पुरुषोत्तम O best among men? अधिभूतम् Adhibhuta? च and? किम् what? प्रोक्तम् declared? अधिदैवम् Adhidaiva? किम् what? उच्यते is called.Commentary In the last two verses of the seventh chapter Lord Krishna had used certain philosophical and technical terms such as Adhyatma? Adhibhuta? Adhidaiva and Adhiyajna. Arjuna does not understand the meaning of these terms. So he proceeds to ask the Lord the above estions for their elucidation. Lord Krishna gives the answers succinctly to the above estions in their order.Some treat this chapter as Abhyasa Yoga because in this chapter verses 7? 8? 10? 12? 13 and 14 deal with spiritual practices. Verse 7 treats of Karma and Bhakti Yoga combined (giving the hands to the service of humanity or society and fixing the mind on the Lord). Verse 8 deals with Abhyasa Yoga. Verses 10? 12 and 13 treat of Hatha Yoga (how to raise the lifeforce t the Ajna Chakra and the Sahasrara and the Brahmarandhra). Verse 14 treats of the easy Yoga of constant Namasmarana or remembering the names of the Lord constantly. This alone will help the spiritual aspirant to approach the Lord easily.The nature of Brahman? the individual Self (Adhyatma)? the nature of action? the nature of the objective universe or phenomena (Adhibhuta)? knowledge of the shining ones (Adhidaiva)? and the secret of sacrifice (Adhiyajna) are described in this discourse. The perfect sage will have perfect knowledge. He will have perfect knowledge of not only the manifested Brahman but also of the transcendental Brahman and the why of the universe? etc.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
8.1 See Commentary under 8.2.
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
8.1 8.2 Arjuna said What are that brahman, Adhyatma and Karma which have been mentioned as what should be known by those who aspire for release from old age and death while they take refuge with the Lord? What are Adhibuta and Adhidaiva, which should be known by the aspirants for wealth? Who is Adhiyajna that is to be known by the three groups as their dying hour. In what manner are You to be known by these three groups who are self-controlled?
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
8.1 See Comment under 8.2
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।8.1।। No commentary.

🪷 Hindi Vyākhyā · हिन्दी व्याख्या

Received Hindi vyākhyā attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi vyākhyā · source-data attribution
।।8.1।। व्याख्या--'पुरुषोत्तम किं तद्ब्रह्म'-- हे पुरुषोत्तम वह ब्रह्म क्या है अर्थात् ब्रह्म शब्दसे क्या समझना चाहिये'

🪷 Place in the Bhagavad-Gītā

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📚 Cite this verse · Academic citation formats
APA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. (n.d.). Bhagavad-Gītā 8.1. Vidhyāmitra. Retrieved 2026-08-17, from https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/8/1
Chicago: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 8.1." Vidhyāmitra. Accessed 2026-08-17. https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/8/1.
MLA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 8.1." Vidhyāmitra, 2026, https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/8/1.
Canonical reading URL: https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/8/1. This citation identifies Vidhyamitra's received digital witness; consult a named scholarly or printed edition when edition-specific authority is required.

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This page is rendered from the pinned 701-address witness documented on the Gītā index. Publication and search-indexing authorization for every bundled translation and commentary layer was confirmed on 4 August 2026; the exact received recension boundary remains disclosed separately.

🪷 ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय 🪷

सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)