Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 18
त्वमक्षरं परमं वेदितव्यं
त्वमस्य विश्वस्य परं निधानम्।
त्वमव्ययः शाश्वतधर्मगोप्ता
सनातनस्त्वं पुरुषो मतो मे।।
त्वमस्य विश्वस्य परं निधानम्।
त्वमव्ययः शाश्वतधर्मगोप्ता
सनातनस्त्वं पुरुषो मतो मे।।
tvam akṣaraṁ paramaṁ veditavyaṁ
tvam asya viśvasya paraṁ nidhānam
tvam avyayaḥ śāśvata-dharma-goptā
sanātanas tvaṁ puruṣo mato me
also searched as "tvam aksharam paramam veditavyam"
Translation
You are the Imperishable, Supreme One to be realized. You are the Supreme Substratum of this universe. You are immutable, the guardian of the eternal law; I know You are the Supreme Person who is everlasting.
Vāṇi's rendering
You are the imperishable, the highest there is to know, the universe's final rest — deathless guardian of eternal dharma.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| त्वम्tvam | you |
| अक्षरम्akṣaram | the imperishable, that which never wears away |
| परमम्paramam | highest, supreme |
| वेदितव्यम्veditavyam | the one thing worth knowing |
| त्वम्tvam | you |
| अस्यasya | of this |
| विश्वस्यviśvasya | of the whole universe |
| परम्param | ultimate, final |
| निधानम्nidhānam | resting place where all is laid down and held |
| त्वम्tvam | you |
| अव्ययःavyayaḥ | undiminishing, never spent |
| शाश्वत-धर्म-गोप्ताśāśvata-dharma-goptā | guardian of the dharma that does not end |
| सनातनःsanātanaḥ | without beginning, always already there (joins the next word as sanātanas tvaṁ) |
| त्वम्tvam | you |
| पुरुषःpuruṣaḥ | the Person, the one who dwells in all (joins the next word as puruṣo mato) |
| मतःmataḥ | is held, is my settled conviction |
| मेme | by me |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 18 mean?
Arjuna, standing before the universal form, names what he is seeing. Krishna is the akṣara — the imperishable — the one thing finally worth knowing, the place where the whole universe comes to rest, and the guardian who keeps eternal dharma from being lost. It is not a doctrine Arjuna repeats. It is a recognition wrung out of him.
What does tvam aksharam paramam veditavyam mean?
You are the imperishable, the highest thing to be known. Everything else Arjuna could learn wears out, changes hands, or dies. This does not. When the Gītā says veditavyam, it means the knowing that ends the need for further knowing — not information added, but the ground beneath everything you have ever tried to hold.
Why does Arjuna call Krishna the guardian of eternal dharma?
Because he is about to fight, and he needs to know that righteousness is not something he must personally keep alive. Dharma has a keeper older than the war. Arjuna's duty is to act; the preservation of dharma across all time is not resting on his shoulders. That distinction is what lets him lift the bow.
What is nidhanam in this verse?
The treasure-house, the final resting place. Everything the universe throws up — worlds, beings, ages — is set down there when it is finished. Nothing is lost and nothing is stored forever elsewhere. What you fear losing was always on loan from that same place, and returns to it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Arjuna has just seen a form with no edges, and what comes out of him is not fear but recognition. He is not being told this. He is saying it — the terrified man naming what he sees. Notice the last two words: mato me, this is my conviction. Krishna does not extract the confession; the vision produces it. And notice what Arjuna reaches for when language fails him: not power, but guardianship. The thing that holds dharma steady while everything else burns. When your own ground shakes, you look for the same thing — something that does not move because it never began.