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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.27
jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur dhruvaṃ janma mṛtasya ca | tasmād aparihārye 'rthe na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi
Translation. For one who has been born, death is certain;
and for one who has died, birth is certain.
Therefore, over this unavoidable matter (artha),
you ought not to grieve.
Grammar check: 15 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 |
|---|
| jātasya | jāta | pass |
| hi | hi | pass |
| dhruvaḥ | dhruva | pass |
| mṛtyuḥ | mṛtyu | pass |
| dhruvam | dhruva | pass |
| janma | janman | pass |
| mṛtasya | mṛta | pass |
| ca | ca | pass |
| tasmāt | tasmāt | pass |
| aparihārye | aparihārya | pass |
| arthe | artha | pass |
| na | na | pass |
| tvam | tvad | pass |
| śocitum | śuc | pass |
| arhasi | arh | 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.
The enclitic hi introduces the verse’s explanatory ground and is translated “for.”→ causal/explanatory “for”
gita []
The commentary does not separately gloss hi; the choice follows its normal particle usage ([MW s.v. hi, 1297,3]).
Jātasya and mṛtasya are substantivized masculine genitives: “for/of one who has been born” and “for/of one who has died,” not abstract genitives “of birth” and “of death.”→ substantivized participles referring generically to a born or dead being
gita [1]jātasya hi labdha-janmanaḥ dhruvo 'vyabhicārī mṛtyur maraṇaṃ dhruva janma mṛtasya ca |
For one born—that is, one who has obtained birth—death, namely dying, is fixed and invariable; and birth is fixed for one dead.
Dhruva is predicative and means “certain” or “invariable” here, rather than “eternal.” Its masculine form agrees with mṛtyuḥ and its neuter form with janma.→ predicative “certain/invariable” in both parallel clauses
gita [1]dhruvo 'vyabhicārī mṛtyur maraṇaṃ dhruva janma
Death—dying—is fixed, invariable; birth is fixed.
gita [2]tasmād aparihāryo 'yaṃ janma-maraṇa-lakṣaṇo 'rthaḥ |
Therefore this matter characterized by birth and death is unavoidable.
Ca coordinates the complete second proposition, “birth is certain for one dead,” with the first proposition about death; it does not merely join the nouns birth and death.→ coordination of two complete parallel clauses
gita [1]jātasya hi labdha-janmanaḥ dhruvo 'vyabhicārī mṛtyur maraṇaṃ dhruva janma mṛtasya ca |
For one born, death is invariable; and birth is fixed for one dead.
Artha means the unavoidable matter or situation characterized by birth and death, not “wealth,” “purpose,” or an independent object. Aparihārye agrees with arthe, and the locative marks the matter with respect to which one might grieve.→ the unavoidable situation characterized by birth and death
gita [2]tasmād aparihāryo 'yaṃ janma-maraṇa-lakṣaṇo 'rthaḥ |
Therefore this matter, characterized by birth and death, is unavoidable.
gita [3]tasminn aparihārye 'rthe na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi ||bhgs_2.27||
With respect to that unavoidable matter, you ought not to grieve.
The scope is na [śocitum arhasi], “you ought not to grieve,” with tvam as the nominative subject of finite arhasi and the understood agent of infinitive śocitum. It is not an imperative or a first-person form.→ second-person modal construction: “you ought not to grieve”
gita [3]tasminn aparihārye 'rthe na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi ||bhgs_2.27||
Regarding that unavoidable matter, you ought not to grieve.
gita [4]kārya-karaṇa-saṃghātātma-kānyapi bhūtāny uddiśya śoko na yuktaḥ kartum, yataḥ-
Even with reference to beings whose self is the aggregate of effect and instrument, it is not proper to perform grief, because—
Aparihārya is analyzed grammatically as a nañ-tatpuruṣa, a-parihārya, “not avoidable.”→ nañ-tatpuruṣa
gita []
The commentary confirms the contextual meaning but does not explicitly state the compound classification; the classification follows ordinary grammar.
The causal transition tasmāt is inferential: because death and subsequent birth are fixed, grief regarding this unavoidable course is inappropriate.→ inferential “therefore”
gita [2, 3]tasmād aparihāryo 'yaṃ janma-maraṇa-lakṣaṇo 'rthaḥ |
tasminn aparihārye 'rthe na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi ||bhgs_2.27||
Therefore this matter characterized by birth and death is unavoidable. Regarding that unavoidable matter, you ought not to grieve.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1jātasya hi labdha-janmanaḥ dhruvo 'vyabhicārī mṛtyur maraṇaṃ dhruva janma mṛtasya ca |
2tasmād aparihāryo 'yaṃ janma-maraṇa-lakṣaṇo 'rthaḥ |
3tasminn aparihārye 'rthe na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi ||bhgs_2.27||
4kārya-karaṇa-saṃghātātma-kānyapi bhūtāny uddiśya śoko na yuktaḥ kartum, yataḥ-