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Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 2: Sankhya Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Bhagavad Gita 2.20: Na jayate mriyate

Krishna says that the self is never born and never dies.

Bhagavad Gita 2.20

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥

Na jayate mriyate va ka­da­chin­na­yam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah
Ajo nityah shash­va­to­yam purano na hanyate hanyamane sharire

na jāyate mriyate vā ka­dā­cin­nā­yaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ |
ajo nityaḥ śāś­va­to’­yaṃ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre ||

Our meaning Krishna says that the self is never born and never dies. It did not come into being at some point, and it will not stop being. It is unborn, eternal, lasting and ancient. When the body is killed, it is not killed.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि आत्मा न कभी जन्म लेती है, न मरती है। ऐसा नहीं कि वह एक बार होकर फिर न रहे। वह अजन्मा, नित्य, शाश्वत और पुरातन है। शरीर के मारे जाने पर भी वह नहीं मारी जाती।

Word by word

Every word, with its dictionary page

Word by word

  1. न na not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 ind. not, no, nor, neither
  2. जायते jāyate is born (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: jan, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 410, col. 1 to be born or produced, come into existence
  3. म्रियते mriyate dies (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: mṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 827, col. 2 to die, decease
  4. वा vā or (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. vā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 934, col. 2 ind. or
  5. कदाचित् kadācit at any time (indeclinable) Dictionary: kadā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 248, col. 1 at some time, one day
  6. न na not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 ind. not, no, nor, neither
  7. अयम् ayam this (Self) (pronoun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. idam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 2
  8. भूत्वा bhūtvā having come to be (absolutive (having done)) Dictionary: 1. bhū, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 760, col. 2 arise, come into being, exist
  9. भविता bhavitā will come to be (periphrastic future, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. bhū, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 760, col. 2 arise, come into being, exist
  10. वा vā or (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. vā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 934, col. 2 ind. or
  11. न na not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 ind. not, no, nor, neither
  12. भूयः bhūyaḥ again (indeclinable) Dictionary: bhūyas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 763, col. 3 more, more numerous or abundant
  13. अजः ajaḥ unborn (adjective (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: 2. a-ja, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 9, col. 3 not born, existing from all eternity
  14. नित्यः nityaḥ eternal (adjective (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: nitya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 547, col. 2 continual, perpetual, eternal
  15. शाश्वतः śāśvataḥ everlasting (adjective (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: śāśvata, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1068, col. 3 eternal, constant, perpetual
  16. अयम् ayam this (Self) (pronoun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. idam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 2
  17. पुराणः purāṇaḥ ancient (adjective (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: purāṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 635, col. 1 belonging to ancient or olden times, ancient, old
  18. न na not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 ind. not, no, nor, neither
  19. हन्यते hanyate is killed (present passive, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. han, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1287, col. 2 to smite, slay, hit, kill, mar, destroy
  20. हन्यमाने hanyamāne when being killed (present passive participle, locative singular) Dictionary: hanyamāna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1288, col. 1 (pr. p. Pass.) being killed or slain
  21. शरीरे śarīre the body (noun (neuter), locative singular) Dictionary: śarīra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1057, col. 3 the body, bodily frame

Public-domain translations

Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 45.

It is not born, nor does it ever die, nor, having existed, does it exist no more. Unborn, everlasting, unchangeable, and primeval, it is not killed when the body is killed1.

  1. Katha-upanishad, pp. 103, 104. ↩
English translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882); public domain. archive.org (page 45, scan leaf n58). Shown verbatim.
Compare 3 translations

Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 45.

It is not born, nor does it ever die, nor, having existed, does it exist no more. Unborn, everlasting, unchangeable, and primeval, it is not killed when the body is killed1.

  1. Katha-upanishad, pp. 103, 104. ↩
English translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882); public domain. archive.org (page 45, scan leaf n58). Shown verbatim.

You are reading this one

Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 28.

It is not born, nor doth It die: nor having been, ceaseth It any more to be: unborn, perpetual, eternal and ancient, It is not slain when the body is slaughtered.

English translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895); public domain. archive.org (page 28, scan leaf n34). Shown verbatim.

You are reading this one

Swami Swarupananda, 1909 (first printed 1907). Public domain. Page 35.

This is never born, nor does It die. It is not that not having been It again comes into being. (Or according to another view: It is not that having been It again ceases to be). This is unborn, eternal, changeless, ever-itself. It is not killed when the body is killed.

English translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909); public domain. archive.org (page 35, scan leaf n48). Shown verbatim.

You are reading this one

Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep with AI help and reviewed. Source and changes

Questions families ask

Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 2.20?

Krishna speaks this verse, in chapter 2 (Sankhya Yoga).

Where does the Sanskrit text come from?

Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep with AI help and reviewed. See the source

Is the meaning on this page a translation?

Explanation written for this site with AI help from the sources listed here, and reviewed. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.

Source and licence

Sanskrit text
The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.
Translation
The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
Translation
The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
Sanskrit text
Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Used only to date the text. The Devanagari on this page is a reading text and is not copied from this printing.
Common wording
In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
Our explanation
Explanation written for this site with AI help from the sources listed here, and reviewed. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Review
AI review: 2 independent reviews against the cited edition, October 15, 2026.

Sources and licences

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