Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 13, Verse 12
ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वाऽमृतमश्नुते।अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते।।
jñeyaṁ yat tat pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvāmṛtam aśnute
anādi mat-paraṁ brahma na sat tan nāsad ucyate
also searched as "jneyam yat tat pravakshyami yaj jnatvamritam ashnute"
Translation
I shall declare that which is to be known, knowing which one attains the immortal Self. It is beginningless Brahman, having Me as the Highest (Anadi Matparam); it is said to be neither being nor non-being.
Vāṇi's rendering
Now, what must be known — knowing it, you taste the deathless: the beginningless supreme, neither being nor non-being.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ज्ञेयम्jñeyam | that which is to be known |
| यत्yat | which |
| तत्tat | that |
| प्रवक्ष्यामिpravakṣyāmi | I shall now declare |
| यत्yat | which (yaj before the following j) |
| ज्ञात्वाjñātvā | having known |
| अमृतम्amṛtam | the deathless, immortality (joined to jñātvā by sandhi) |
| अश्नुतेaśnute | one tastes, reaches, enjoys |
| अनादिanādi | without beginning |
| मत्-परम्mat-param | having me as its highest ground |
| ब्रह्मbrahma | Brahman, the vast |
| नna | not |
| सत्sat | being, what exists as a thing |
| तत्tat | that (tan before the nasal-following n) |
| नna | nor (nāsad is na + asat) |
| असत्asat | non-being, nothingness |
| उच्यतेucyate | is said to be, is called |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Verse 12 mean?
Krishna turns from describing the seeker to naming what is sought. It is beginningless, it rests in him, and it cannot be called either being or non-being — because both those words belong to things that come and go. Knowing it, you do not gain a fact. You taste the deathless.
What does jneyam yat tat pravakshyami yaj jnatvamritam ashnute mean?
"I shall now declare what must be known; knowing it, one tastes the deathless." Krishna announces the subject before describing it, and the promise comes first. Not merit, not reward later — amṛtam, here, in the knowing itself. The rest of the verse tells you why no ordinary word will hold it.
Why is Brahman called neither being nor non-being?
Because sat and asat are both measurements. Sat is what exists as a thing among things, with edges and a beginning. Asat is simple absence. Brahman is neither a thing nor an absence, so every honest sentence about it must let go of both. The denial is not evasion. It is precision.
What does anadi mat-param mean in this verse?
Anādi: nothing started it, so nothing can end it. Mat-param: Krishna says this vastness has him as its highest ground. The impersonal and the personal are not rivals here. What philosophy calls beginningless, Krishna calls mine — and in the same breath offers it to you as what can be known.
How can I know something that has no beginning?
Not by adding it to what you already carry. You come to it by subtraction — noticing that the ache, the name, the worry all began, and watching who remains when they pass. Krishna does not ask you to imagine the deathless. He asks you to stop identifying with what dies.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just named knowledge; now he names what knowledge is for. And the first thing he says about it is what it is not. Not being — because being is what begins and ends, what you can point at. Not non-being — because it is not absent, and you are reading this. Every description narrows; this one refuses to narrow. Arjuna asked what to do. Krishna tells him what is. Beginningless, and Krishna's own ground. Notice what he promises: not information but amṛtam, the deathless, tasted. You do not learn this the way you learn a fact. You stop mistaking yourself for the things that start and stop.