Bhagavad Gita BG 8.1
Chapter 8, Verse 1 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
अर्जुन उवाच । किं तद्ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम । अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तं अधिदैवं किमुच्यते ॥
arjuna uvaca kim tad brahma kim adhyatmam kim karma purushottama adhibhutam ca kim proktam adhidaivam kim ucyate
Meaning
Arjuna said: What is that Brahman? What is Adhyatma? What is Karma, O Purushottama? What is declared to be Adhibhuta? And what is said to be Adhidaiva?
Understanding
Arjuna's two-verse string of seven questions, prompted by Krishna's closing words of Chapter 7. The questions span the full spectrum of cosmic and personal reality: Brahman (the ultimate absolute), Adhyatma (the individual-self principle), Karma (the law of action and consequence), Adhibhuta (the domain of material existence), Adhidaiva (the domain of the divine intelligences), Adhiyajna (the sacrifice/cosmic law principle), and finally — what does the self-mastered person know at the moment of death?
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| किम् | kim | what, which |
| ब्रह्म | brahma | Brahman, the ultimate Absolute |
| अध्यात्मम् | adhyatmam | the self-principle, the adhyatma |
| अधिभूतम् | adhibhutam | the domain of beings/matter |
| पुरुषोत्तम | purushottama | O Supreme Purusha (epithet of Krishna) |
| अर्जुन उवाच | arjuna uvāca | Arjuna said |
| तत् | tat | that |
| अध्यात्मम् | adhyātmam | the self, the individual spirit |
| कर्म | karma | action, work |
| पुरुषोत्तम | puruṣottama | O Supreme Person (Krishna) |
| अधिभूतम् | adhibhūtam | the material manifestation |
| च | ca | and |
| प्रोक्तम् | proktam | called, declared |
| अधिदैवम् | adhidaivam | the divine being, the divine principle |
| उच्यते | ucyate | is called, is said to be |