Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 9
जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः।
त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन।।
त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन।।
janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna
also searched as "janma karma cha me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah"
Translation
He who thus knows in truth My divine birth and actions does not get rebirth after leaving the body; he will come to Me, O Arjuna.
Vāṇi's rendering
Truly know my birth and work as divine, and at death there is no rebirth — you come to me.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जन्मjanma | birth |
| कर्मkarma | action, work |
| चca | and |
| मेme | my |
| दिव्यम्divyam | divine, luminous, not of this ordinary order |
| एवम्evam | thus, in this way |
| यःyaḥ | who (written yo before the following v- by sandhi) |
| वेत्तिvetti | knows |
| तत्त्वतःtattvataḥ | as it truly is, in essence |
| त्यक्त्वाtyaktvā | having left behind, having let go of |
| देहम्deham | the body |
| पुनःpunaḥ | again (appears as punar before the following j-) |
| जन्मjanma | birth |
| नna | not (joined with the next word as naiti) |
| एतिeti | comes to, goes to |
| माम्mām | to me |
| एतिeti | comes |
| सःsaḥ | he, that one (written so' before arjuna by sandhi) |
| अर्जुनarjuna | O Arjuna |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 9 mean?
Krishna says his birth and his work are divine — uncompelled, unbound. Whoever knows this tattvataḥ, as it actually is and not as a story overheard, is not born again when the body falls away. Such a one comes to Krishna. The knowing itself is what loosens the grip of birth.
What does janma karma cha me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah teach?
That there is a difference between believing something about Krishna and knowing it truly. Anyone can repeat that he descends. To see that his coming and his acting carry no bondage in them — that seeing changes the seer. You stop reading your own life as something done to you.
Why does knowing Krishna's birth free a person from rebirth?
Because rebirth is held in place by the sense of being made by one's actions. Krishna acts and is not made by it. To truly see one life that is free in the middle of work is to recognise the same freedom already present in you, unclaimed.
Does this verse mean I must die before it helps me?
No. Krishna speaks of leaving the body, but the knowing happens now. Arjuna receives this standing between two armies, with everything still ahead of him. The freedom is not a reward posted after death; it is a way of carrying today's work, and death only confirms it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Krishna has just said he takes birth age after age. Now he says: know how. Not the fact of the descent but its nature — that the birth was not compelled, that the work was not bound. Tattvataḥ means to know it as it actually is, and that knowing does something to the knower. What binds you is not action but the sense of being made by it. See one birth that was free, truly see it, and your own births lose their grip. Arjuna is told this on a battlefield, before he has done anything at all. So are you.