back to questions
Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.30
dehī nityam avadhyo 'yaṃ dehe sarvasya bhārata | tasmāt sarvāṇi bhūtāni na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi
Translation. The embodied one (dehin)—this one in every creature’s body—
is always unslayable, O descendant of Bharata.
Therefore you ought not to grieve
for any beings at all.
Grammar check: 14 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 |
|---|
| dehī | dehin | pass |
| nityam | nityam | pass |
| avadhyaḥ | avadhya | pass |
| ayam | idam | pass |
| dehe | deha | pass |
| sarvasya | sarva | pass |
| bhārata | bhārata | pass |
| tasmāt | tasmāt | pass |
| sarvāṇi | sarva | pass |
| bhūtāni | bhūta | 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.
Dehī denotes the body-possessing, embodied one rather than the physical body itself.→ “The embodied one (dehin).” The commentary first equates dehī with śarīrī and then distinguishes this dehī from the body that undergoes killing.
gita [1]dehī śarīrī
The embodied one: the one possessing a body.
gita [2]dehe vadhyamāne 'py ayaṃ dehī na vadhyo
Even when the body is being slain, this embodied one is not slain.
Nityam is an adverb modifying avadhyaḥ and means ‘always,’ with applicability in every condition.→ “Always,” understood as holding at all times and in every state.
gita [1]nityaṃ sarvadā sarvāvasthāsu
Always: at all times, in every state.
Avadhyaḥ expresses factual impossibility of slaying, not merely a moral prohibition against killing.→ “Unslayable.” Śaṅkara grounds this in the embodied one’s partlessness and eternality and says that it remains unslain when the body is slain.
gita [1]avadhyaḥ niravayavatvān nityatvāc ca
Unslayable, because it is without parts and because it is eternal.
gita [2]dehe vadhyamāne 'py ayaṃ dehī na vadhyo
Even when the body is being slain, this embodied one is not slain.
Ayam is masculine nominative singular in apposition to dehī, not accusative singular.→ Nominative “this one.” The commentary restates the syntax as ayaṃ dehī na vadhyaḥ.
gita [2]ayaṃ dehī na vadhyo
This embodied one is not to be slain.
Dehe sarvasya is a distributive locative-genitive expression: the embodied one is present in the body of every living creature.→ “In every creature’s body.” The commentary supplies prāṇi-jātasya after sarvasya and further includes immobile beings on the ground of all-pervasion.
gita [2]dehe śarīre sarvasya sarva-gatatvāt sthāvarādiṣu sthito 'pi sarvasya prāṇi-jātasya dehe
In the body; because of being all-pervading, although present in immobile beings and the rest, in the body of every class of living creature.
The sequence yasmāt … tasmāt marks the second half as the conclusion drawn from the embodied one’s unslayability.→ “Therefore.” Śaṅkara explicitly frames the reason with yasmāt and its consequence with tasmāt.
gita [2]ayaṃ dehī na vadhyo yasmāt, tasmād
Because this embodied one is not slain, therefore …
Sarvāṇi bhūtāni is accusative plural as the semantic object or reference of grieving, and in context includes Bhīṣma and the others.→ Under na … śocitum arhasi, the natural English scope is “you ought not to grieve for any beings at all.” The commentary construes sarvāṇi bhūtāni with uddiśya and identifies Bhīṣma and the others as its immediate referents.
gita [2]tasmād bhīṣmādīni sarvāṇi bhūtāni uddiśya na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi
Therefore, with reference to all beings beginning with Bhīṣma, you ought not to grieve.
Na negates the infinitival obligation śocitum arhasi; śocitum is a nonfinite infinitive dependent on the finite second-person arhasi.→ “You ought not to grieve.” This agrees with the commentary’s uninterrupted construction and with its subsequent statement that grief cannot arise when ultimate reality is considered.
gita [2]na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi
You ought not to grieve.
gita [3]iha paramārtha-tattvāpekṣāyāṃ śoko moho vā na saṃbhavatīty uktam
It has here been stated that, when ultimate reality is taken into account, neither grief nor delusion can arise.
Avadhya is analyzed as a negative nañ-tatpuruṣa with the vigraha na vadhyaḥ.→ A nañ-tatpuruṣa. The commentary itself paraphrases avadhyaḥ as na vadhyaḥ.
gita [2]ayaṃ dehī na vadhyo
This embodied one is not to be slain.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1dehī śarīrī nityaṃ sarvadā sarvāvasthāsu avadhyaḥ niravayavatvān nityatvāc ca |
2tatra avadhyo 'yaṃ dehe śarīre sarvasya sarva-gatatvāt sthāvarādiṣu sthito 'pi sarvasya prāṇi-jātasya dehe vadhyamāne 'py ayaṃ dehī na vadhyo yasmāt, tasmād bhīṣmādīni sarvāṇi bhūtāni uddiśya na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi ||bhgs_2.30||
3iha paramārtha-tattvāpekṣāyāṃ śoko moho vā na saṃbhavatīty uktam |
4na kevalaṃ paramārtha-tattvāpekṣāyām eva, kiṃ tu ---