Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 8, Verse 21
अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम्।
यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम।।
यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम।।
avyakto ’kṣara ityuktas tam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim
yaṁ prāpya na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama
also searched as "avyakto akshara ityuktastamahuh paramam gatim"
Translation
They call Him who has been mentioned as the Unmanifested, the Immutable, the supreme Goal. That is the supreme abode of Mine, from which they do not return once they reach it.
Vāṇi's rendering
That is called the imperishable, the final goal. Those who reach it never return. It is my home.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अव्यक्तःavyaktaḥ | unmanifest; not available to the senses (sandhi: avyakto) |
| अक्षरःakṣaraḥ | imperishable, that which never wears away (sandhi: 'kṣara) |
| इतिiti | thus, by these names |
| उक्तःuktaḥ | is called, has been spoken of (sandhi: ityuktas) |
| तम्tam | that, him |
| आहुःāhuḥ | they call, the wise say |
| परमाम्paramām | highest, beyond which there is no further |
| गतिम्gatim | goal, the going, the destination |
| यम्yam | which |
| प्राप्यprāpya | having reached, on arriving |
| नna | not |
| निवर्तन्तेnivartante | they turn back, they return |
| तत्tat | that (sandhi: tad before dhāma) |
| धामdhāma | dwelling, home, abode |
| परमम्paramam | supreme |
| ममmama | mine, my own |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 Verse 21 mean?
It names the highest state three ways: unmanifest, imperishable, the final goal. Then Krishna adds one word the others do not carry — dhāma, home. Those who reach it do not turn back, because there is nothing beyond it to move toward. The goal and the one who speaks of it are the same place.
What does avyakto akshara ityuktastamahuh paramam gatim mean?
Avyakta means it cannot be shown to the eye; akṣara means it cannot decay. Together they say: what is real here is neither visible nor losable. The wise call this the paramā gati, the going beyond which no going remains. Krishna then claims it as his own dwelling.
Why do those who reach it never return?
Return happens where something is still wanted. Every place you have arrived at so far has eventually released you, because it could not hold everything you needed. This one does not send you back. Not by force — by sufficiency. There is no lack left in you to pull you out again.
How is this verse useful if I am not seeking liberation?
Then use it as a measure. Look at where your day is spent going — the next task, the next reassurance, the next arrival that will not keep. Krishna is not asking you to abandon these. He is showing you that they are all departures, and that something in you already knows it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just described the unmanifest beyond the unmanifest, and now he names it twice — imperishable, final goal — and then does something stranger. He calls it home. Not a destination, not a reward for good arithmetic of lifetimes. The place he lives. Everything you have ever reached, you have also left; arrival has always been the beginning of departure. Here the leaving stops. Not because you are held there, but because there is nowhere further to go and nothing left to want. Notice how much of your day is spent arriving somewhere you will have to leave.