Topic

Immortality

10 verses from the Bhagavad Gita on immortality. Explore teachings across 3 chapters.

All Verses

Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha dehantara-praptir dhiras tatra na muhyati

As the embodied soul continuously passes through childhood, youth, and old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.

  • The soul is eternal and unchanging
  • Physical changes don't affect the soul
  • Death is merely a transition
Yam hi na vyathayanty ete purusham purusharshabha, sama-duhkha-sukham dhiram so 'mritatvaya kalpate

O best among men, the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.

  • Equanimity is the path to immortality
  • Balance in pleasure and pain
  • Mental steadiness leads to liberation
Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grhnati naro 'parani, tatha sharirani vihaya jirnany anyani samyati navani dehi

As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one.

  • The soul is eternal, bodies are temporary
  • Reincarnation explained through metaphor
  • Death is transformation, not destruction
Nainam chindanti shastrani nainam dahati pavakah, na chainam kledayanty apo na shoshayati marutah

Weapons cannot shred the soul, nor can fire burn it. Water cannot wet it, nor can the wind dry it.

  • The soul is indestructible
  • Physical forces cannot harm the eternal self
  • True nature is beyond material elements
Nainam chindanti shastrani nainam dahati pavakah, na chainam kledayanty apo na shoshayati marutah

Weapons cannot shred the soul, nor can fire burn it. Water cannot wet it, nor can the wind dry it.

  • The soul is indestructible
  • Physical forces cannot harm the eternal self
  • True nature is beyond material elements
Jneyam yat tat pravakshyami yaj jnatvamrtam ashnute, anadimat param brahma na sat tan nasad ucyate

I shall now describe that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality. It is beginningless supreme Brahman, which is said to be neither being nor non-being.

  • Knowledge of Brahman leads to immortality
  • The absolute transcends categories
  • Beyond existence and non-existence
Jneyam yat tat pravakshyami yaj jnatvamrtam ashnute, anadimat param brahma na sat tan nasad ucyate

I shall now describe that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality. It is beginningless supreme Brahman, which is said to be neither being nor non-being.

  • Knowledge of Brahman leads to immortality
  • The absolute transcends categories
  • Beyond existence and non-existence