Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन ।
मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते ॥१६॥
ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
punar āvartino ‘rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate
Word for word (synonyms)
- ābrahma
- up to the Brahmaloka planet
- bhuvanāt
- from the planetary systems
- lokāḥ
- planets
- punaḥ
- again
- āvartinaḥ
- returning
- arjuna
- O Arjuna
- mām
- unto Me
- upetya
- arriving
- tu
- but
- kaunteya
- O son of Kuntī
- punaḥ janma
- rebirth
- na
- never
- vidyate
- takes to
Translation
From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again.
Purport
Other scriptures cited in this purport: Kaṭha Upaniṣad
All kinds of yogīs—karma, jñāna, haṭha, etc.—eventually have to attain devotional perfection in bhakti-yoga, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, before they can go to Kṛṣṇa's transcendental abode and never return. Those who attain the highest material planets or the planets of the demigods are again subjected to repeated birth and death. As persons on earth are elevated to higher planets, people in higher planets such as Brahmaloka, Candraloka and Indraloka fall down to earth. The practice of sacrifice called pañcāgni-vidyā, recommended in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, enables one to achieve Brahmaloka, but if, in Brahmaloka, one does not cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he must return to earth. Those who progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the higher planets are gradually elevated to higher and higher planets and at the time of universal devastation are transferred to the eternal spiritual kingdom. When there is devastation of this material universe, Brahmā and his devotees, who are constantly engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are all transferred to the spiritual universe and to specific spiritual planets according to their desires.
What this verse teaches
The study note for this verse is in editorial review.
In thematic compilations 2
Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- One who attains to Kṛṣṇa’s abode, never takes birth again in this miserable material world. (8.16 ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ...)
- Death pervades everywhere in the universe, from the highest planet to the lowest planet (8.16 ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ...)
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 1
- Bhagavad-gītā 8.15–20 1966-10-31 · New York
Articles on this verse 1
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.