Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 30
देही नित्यमवध्योऽयं देहे सर्वस्य भारत।
तस्मात्सर्वाणि भूतानि न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि।।
तस्मात्सर्वाणि भूतानि न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि।।
dehī nityam avadhyo ’yaṁ dehe sarvasya bhārata
tasmāt sarvāṇi bhūtāni na tvaṁ śocitum arhasi
also searched as "dehi nityam avadhyo yam dehe sarvasya bharata"
Translation
The self in the body, O Arjuna, is eternal and indestructible. This is the case for all selves in all bodies. Therefore, it is not fitting for you to feel grief for any being.
Vāṇi's rendering
The one who lives in every body can never be killed. So do not mourn for anyone.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| देहीdehī | the one who wears a body, the indweller |
| नित्यम्nityam | always, at every moment |
| अवध्यःavadhyaḥ | cannot be killed (sandhi: avadhyo before ayam) |
| अयम्ayam | this one here |
| देहेdehe | in the body |
| सर्वस्यsarvasya | of everyone, of each and all |
| भारतbhārata | O Bhārata — Arjuna, of Bharata's line |
| तस्मात्tasmāt | therefore |
| सर्वाणिsarvāṇi | all |
| भूतानिbhūtāni | beings, every living creature |
| नna | not |
| त्वम्tvam | you |
| शोचितुम्śocitum | to grieve, to mourn |
| अर्हसिarhasi | you ought, it befits you |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 30 mean?
It says the indweller in every body is never killed — not only in Arjuna, but in each being he faces. Because that is true everywhere, grief for anyone rests on a misreading of what death does. Krishna is not forbidding feeling; he is correcting the belief underneath it.
What does dehi nityam avadhyo yam dehe sarvasya bharata mean?
Dehī is the one who wears a body, as you wear cloth. Nityam avadhyaḥ — never at any moment killable. And sarvasya: in the body of everyone, without exception. Krishna addresses Arjuna as Bhārata, calling him by lineage, then tells him lineage is not the thing that dies.
Does this verse mean I should not grieve when someone dies?
It means the one you loved was never the part that ended. Tears still come; Krishna never asks Arjuna to stop feeling, only to stop being deceived. Grief that knows this changes shape — it mourns the absence of a face, not the extinction of a being.
Why does Krishna say this applies to all beings and not just Arjuna?
Because Arjuna's sorrow is selective. He grieves for teachers and cousins, not for strangers across the line. Krishna extends the same deathlessness to every body on the field, which dissolves the sorting. What is true of the one you love is true of the one you fear.
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Commentary
Krishna widens it. For twenty verses the argument has been about Arjuna's own deathlessness; here it turns outward — every body on that field houses the same undying one. Bhīṣma's, Droṇa's, the boy in the third rank. Grief had been selective, sorted by name and side. Krishna removes the sorting. If the indweller cannot be killed in you, it cannot be killed in the man you are aiming at, and mourning becomes a mistake about what is happening rather than a tenderness. This does not make the arrow light. It makes your sorrow accurate. Look at the person you most fear losing — something there was never at risk.