Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 8, Verse 20
परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः।
यः स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति।।
यः स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति।।
paras tasmāt tu bhāvo ’nyo ’vyakto ’vyaktāt sanātanaḥ
yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu na vinaśyati
also searched as "paras tasmat tu bhavo anyo avyakto avyaktat sanatanah"
Translation
But distinct from that Unmanifested is the other eternal, unmanifest Reality, who does not get destroyed when all beings are destroyed.
Vāṇi's rendering
Beyond the unmanifest stands another — eternal, unmanifest — which does not perish when all beings perish.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| परःparas | higher, beyond |
| तस्मात्tasmāt | than that |
| तुtu | but, however |
| भावःbhāvaḥ | existence, reality (sandhi: bhāvo before the elided a-) |
| अन्यःanyaḥ | another, other (its initial a elided after bhāvo) |
| अव्यक्तःavyaktaḥ | unmanifest, not visible (initial a elided) |
| अव्यक्तात्avyaktāt | than the unmanifest (initial a elided) |
| सनातनःsanātanaḥ | eternal, without beginning |
| यःyaḥ | which |
| सःsa | that one |
| सर्वेषुsarveṣu | in all |
| भूतेषुbhūteṣu | beings, existences |
| नश्यत्सुnaśyatsu | when they are perishing |
| नna | not |
| विनश्यतिvinaśyati | does not perish, is not destroyed |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 Verse 20 mean?
It marks a distinction. There is an unmanifest that is merely the unseen seed of worlds — it holds beings between their appearing and their dissolving. And there is another unmanifest, sanātana, beyond that one, which stays whole while every being perishes. Krishna names the second so that Arjuna stops mistaking the first for safety.
What does paras tasmat tu bhavo anyo mean in the Gita?
"Beyond that, another existence." Krishna has just described the cosmic day and night, the endless coming out and going back. Then he says: higher than all that. Not a further stage of the cycle, but something outside its reach — unmanifest, yet never dissolved by any dissolution.
Why does Krishna speak of two kinds of unmanifest?
Because invisible is not the same as imperishable. What we cannot see, we tend to call eternal. The seed-state of the worlds is invisible and still perishable; it will unfold again and end again. Krishna separates the merely hidden from the truly deathless, and points you to the second.
How does this verse help someone afraid of death?
It moves the ground under your fear. If all that exists is a cycle of appearing and vanishing, then loss is total. Krishna says there is that which does not perish when all beings perish — and it is not elsewhere. Steady the mind on it, and death becomes an event, not an ending.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Two unmanifests, and only one of them is safe. The first is the dark from which worlds come and to which they return — night of Brahmā, seed-state, invisible but not immune. Everything hidden there will surface again and perish again. Krishna points past it. There is another that cannot be seen and also cannot be undone, and it does not thin out when all beings thin out. Arjuna is being shown where the floor is. Notice how much of what you call permanence is only something currently out of sight, waiting its turn. Rest on the one that is not waiting.