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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.13
dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṃ yauvanaṃ jarā | tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati
Translation. Just as, for the embodied Self (dehin), in this body there are childhood, youth, and old age,
so too there is attainment of another body (dehāntara-prāpti) for that same Self;
the wise person (dhīra) is not deluded about that.
Grammar check: 13 words pass / 0 flagged / 0 beyond the checkerPāṇini-verified
Every word's claimed grammar is re-derived with vidyut-prakriya, software implementing Pāṇini's rules. Flags are shown, never hidden; some are the text taking epic or Vedic liberties the classical rules do not generate.
Word by word
| surface | lemma | grammar |
|---|
| dehinaḥ | dehin | pass |
| asmin | idam | pass |
| yathā | yathā | pass |
| dehe | deha | pass |
| kaumāram | kaumāra | pass |
| yauvanam | yauvana | pass |
| jarā | jarā | pass |
| tathā | tathā | pass |
| dehāntara-prāptiḥ | dehāntara-prāpti | pass |
| dhīraḥ | dhīra | pass |
| tatra | tatra | pass |
| na | na | pass |
| muhyati | muh | pass |
How the commentary settled it
Where the verse alone is ambiguous, the reading follows Śaṅkara's commentary; the deciding lines are quoted below each decision.
Construe dehinaḥ as a genitive referring to the body-possessing Self, and asmin dehe as “in this present body,” rather than taking dehin merely as a generic living creature.→ “for the embodied Self, in this body”
gita [1]deho 'sya astīti dehī, tasya dehino dehavataḥ ātmano 'smin vartamāne dehā
One for whom there is a body is dehin; dehinaḥ means ‘of that embodied, body-possessing Self,’ and asmin dehe means ‘in the present body.’
Take kaumāram, yauvanam, and jarā as three coordinated nominative states—childhood, youth, and old age—not as adjectives or accusative objects.→ Three mutually distinct states: childhood, youth, and old age
gita [1]kaumāraṃ kumāra-bhāvo bālyāvasthā, yauvanaṃ yūno bhāvo madhyamāvasthā, jarā vayo-hāniḥ jīrṇāvasthā, ity etāḥ tisro 'vasthāḥ anyonya-vilakṣaṇāḥ
Kaumāra is the condition of a child, the state of childhood; yauvana is the condition of a youth, the middle state; jarā is the decline of age, the aged state. These are three states distinct from one another.
Understand the succession of states as their acquisition by a Self that is not itself born, destroyed, or altered when one state replaces another.→ The unchanged Self successively attains distinct bodily states
gita [2, 3]tāsāṃ prathamāvasthā-nāśe na nāśaḥ, dvitīyāvasthopajane na upajana ātmanaḥ |
avikriyasyaiva dvitīya-tṛtīyāvasthā-prāptiḥ ātmano dṛṣṭā |
When the first of those states is destroyed, the Self is not destroyed; when the second state arises, the Self does not arise. It is observed that the unchanged Self itself attains the second and third states.
Analyze dehāntara-prāpti as an outer genitive tatpuruṣa meaning “attainment of another body.” Here antara means “other,” not “inner” or “intermediate.”→ “attainment of another body”
gita [4]tathā tadvad eva dehād anyo deho dehāntaram, tasya prāptiḥ dehāntara-prāptiḥ avikriyasyaiva ātmana ity arthaḥ
Likewise, in just that way, a body other than the present body is dehāntara; its attainment is dehāntara-prāpti—namely, the attainment by the unchanged Self.
The yathā–tathā comparison extends the model of the same Self attaining successive bodily states to its attainment of another body.→ The same unchanged Self is the understood recipient of dehāntara-prāpti
gita [4]tathā tadvad eva dehād anyo deho dehāntaram, tasya prāptiḥ dehāntara-prāptiḥ avikriyasyaiva ātmana ity arthaḥ
‘So’ means ‘in precisely the same way’; attainment of another body belongs to the unchanged Self itself.
Translate dhīra as “wise person,” tatra circumstantially as “about that/that being so,” and muhyati as the active intransitive “is deluded.”→ “The wise person is not deluded about that.”
gita [5]dhīro dhīmān tatraivaṃ sati na muhyati na moham āpadyate
Dhīra means intelligent or wise; when this is so, he is not bewildered—he does not fall into delusion.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1deho 'sya astīti dehī, tasya dehino dehavataḥ ātmano 'smin vartamāne dehā yathā yena prakāreṇa kaumāraṃ kumāra-bhāvo bālyāvasthā, yauvanaṃ yūno bhāvo madhyamāvasthā, jarā vayo-hāniḥ jīrṇāvasthā, ity etāḥ tisro 'vasthāḥ anyonya-vilakṣaṇāḥ |
2tāsāṃ prathamāvasthā-nāśe na nāśaḥ, dvitīyāvasthopajane na upajana ātmanaḥ |
3kiṃ tarhi ?avikriyasyaiva dvitīya-tṛtīyāvasthā-prāptiḥ ātmano dṛṣṭā |
4tathā tadvad eva dehād anyo deho dehāntaram, tasya prāptiḥ dehāntara-prāptiḥ avikriyasyaiva ātmana ity arthaḥ |
5dhīro dhīmān tatraivaṃ sati na muhyati na moham āpadyate ||bhgs_2.13||