1 · Learn3 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

Pick any verse to see what it means and how to use it in your life.

Or browse by chapter
Chapter

Chapter 8 · Attaining the Supreme · 28 verses

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728

Deep profile← → keys move between verses

How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Liberation & destinyChapter 8 · Attaining the Supreme
8.198.21

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 8.20

Mortality, cosmic cycles and eternal destination

Īśvara · God

परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातन: ।

य: स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति ॥ २० ॥

paras tasmāt tu bhāvo ’nyo

’vyakto ’vyaktāt sanātanaḥ

yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu

naśyatsu na vinaśyati

Translation

Yet there is another unmanifest nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Kṛṣṇa’s Eternal Spiritual Nature

  1. 1

    Beyond manifest and unmanifest matter is another unmanifest nature. It is supreme, eternal, and never destroyed.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that this is Kṛṣṇa’s superior spiritual energy, beyond all material changes.

  3. 3

    Material nature appears and is destroyed during Brahmā’s days and nights, but spiritual nature remains unchanged.

Key points from the purport

These notes cover verses 8.20–21

Describes the spiritual world, the abode of the Lord. The Spiritual world is:

1

Eternal — Free from birth and death

2

Infallible, because Krishna’s superior energy is opposite to material energy in quality

3

Full of unlimited bliss, as opposed to the material world which is full of miseries

4

Fulfils all desires

5

All attractive

6

Unmanifest to mundane eyes

7

Transcendental to manifest and unmanifest (difference from material world – repeatedly manifest and unmanifest) – Lord’s abode never changes like material world / Composed of cit-sakti

8

Supreme destination

9

A place of no return

a

Description of Abode — Brahma Samhita (“chintamani...”) Study Purport

b

As ‘ultimate destination’ — Katha Upanishad

c

A place of no return — Bhagavad-gita (8.15; 8.21; 15.6)

d

Absolute nature — Krishna’s abode is non-different from Him

e

Replica of Goloka Vrindavan — Bhauma Vrindavan (on this planet)

Connected verses · 1

Texts 8.19 & Texts 8.20

Krishna compares material world with spiritual nature in Texts 8.17 — 8.22

Further reading

Comparing The Material & Spiritual Worlds /

Glories of supreme abode

Material world is continually being created and destroyed

Beyond this ocean of creation and destruction lies Krishna’s abode, where He is present and can be attained only by unalloyed devotion to Him

Chapter 8, section V: Comparing The Material & Spiritual Worlds /
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. paraḥtranscendental
  2. tasmātto that
  3. tubut
  4. bhāvaḥnature
  5. anyaḥanother
  6. avyaktaḥunmanifest
  7. avyaktātto the unmanifest
  8. sanātanaḥeternal
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: mokṣa, dhāma.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 8.20 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to liberation & destiny?

Practice

Reflect on what you want to remember at life's end.

5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 8.16Mortality, cosmic cycles and eternal destinationBG 8.17Mortality, cosmic cycles and eternal destination
Live this todayUse Human Life for DevotionA practice from BG 8.19, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
Next in Learn · 4 of 9 · 10 minChapters & storiesGo chapter by chapter, with the Mahābhārata stories that explain what is happening.Back · LearnPrabhupāda's Introduction