Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 10, Verse 12
अर्जुन उवाच
परं ब्रह्म परं धाम पवित्रं परमं भवान्।
पुरुषं शाश्वतं दिव्यमादिदेवमजं विभुम्।।
परं ब्रह्म परं धाम पवित्रं परमं भवान्।
पुरुषं शाश्वतं दिव्यमादिदेवमजं विभुम्।।
arjuna uvāca
paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān
puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam ādi-devam ajaṁ vibhum
also searched as "param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan"
Translation
Arjuna said, "You are the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Light, the supreme purifier — the eternal, divine Person, the primordial Lord, unborn and all-pervading."
Vāṇi's rendering
You are the highest Brahman, the highest home, the supreme purifier — the eternal divine person, unborn, first, everywhere.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अर्जुनःarjunaḥ | Arjuna |
| उवाचuvāca | said |
| परम्paraṁ | highest, beyond all |
| ब्रह्मbrahma | Brahman, the boundless real |
| परम्paraṁ | highest |
| धामdhāma | abode, dwelling, home |
| पवित्रम्pavitraṁ | the purifier, that which makes clean |
| परमम्paramaṁ | supreme |
| भवान्bhavān | you (spoken with formal respect) |
| पुरुषम्puruṣaṁ | the person, the one who dwells within |
| शाश्वतम्śāśvataṁ | everlasting |
| दिव्यम्divyam | shining, divine |
| आदि-देवम्ādi-devam | the first god, the one before all gods |
| अजम्ajaṁ | unborn |
| विभुम्vibhum | spread everywhere, pervading all |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Verse 12 mean?
Arjuna stops questioning and begins naming. He calls Krishna the highest Brahman, the highest home, the supreme purifier, the eternal divine person — unborn, first, everywhere. It is not a doctrine he is stating. It is what a man says when the friend beside him turns out to be the ground under everything he has ever stood on.
What does 'param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan' mean?
You are the highest Brahman, the highest home, the supreme purifier. Dhāma means dwelling — not a place far off, but where the real finally rests. And pavitram, purifier: nearness to this is itself the washing. Arjuna is not describing a distant absolute. He is speaking to someone holding reins in front of him.
Why does Arjuna suddenly start praising Krishna here?
Because Krishna has just finished telling him how he lives inside every splendid thing. Arjuna has no follow-up question left. When understanding lands fully, it does not come out as analysis; it comes out as address. Praise is the shape a mind takes when it has run past the edge of its own asking.
What is the meaning of calling Krishna 'unborn' and 'all-pervading'?
Ajaṁ, unborn: nothing made him, so nothing can unmake him. Vibhum, pervading: there is no location where he begins or stops. Together they empty out the idea of Krishna as one figure among others. You cannot approach what you are already standing inside. You can only notice it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
For nine chapters Arjuna has argued, doubted, asked again. Here he says nothing but names. Notice the word bhavān — the formal you, the you one uses for a stranger of high rank. The cousin who teased him, who drove his chariot and held his reins, is suddenly addressed across a distance. That distance is not coldness; it is recognition finally arriving in the body. Praise is what happens when a question runs out of room. You have known people your whole life and not once seen them. When seeing comes, it does not come as information. It comes as a name you have to say aloud.