Chapter 2 Verse 12

 

Verse 12

 

न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपा |

न चैव न भविष्याम: सर्वे वयमत: परम् || 12||

 

Transliteration

Na tvevAhaM jAtu nAsaM na tvaM neme janAdhipA.

Na caiva na bhaviSyAmaH sarve vayamataH param.. 12 ..

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Word by word meaning

न – not; तु एव अहं – only me; जातु – at anytime; नासं – not exist न – not; त्वं – you; नेमे – not these; जनाधिपा – kings; न – not; च एव – and only;न – not ; भविष्याम: - we will exist; सर्वे – all; वयम् - of us; अतः - from now; परम् – after;

Meaning:

There was no time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings, nor in the future from now after this, we shall exist.

Significance:

We all know this – In physics we have that matter can never be created nor destroyed, this verse re-iterates this same law. The knowledge of the self is the first step for gaining the knowledge of the Supreme. Lord Krishna too begins His teaching by imparting the knowledge of the self to Arjuna. As Arjuna worries about the death of his kith and kin, Lord says the self is the amsha/a micro part of the Supreme. And the nature of Supreme is that it exists always and there is not a single moment where there is a non-existence of the Supreme. The existence of the Soul in all the three states – creation , existence and destruction is said in this verse.