Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2/Verse 25

अव्यक्तोऽयमचिन्त्योऽयमविकार्योऽयमुच्यते ।
तस्मादेवं विदित्वैनं नानुशोचितुमर्हसि ॥२- २५॥


avyakto'yamacintyo'yamavikāryo'yamucyate ।

tasmādevaṃ viditvainaṃ nānuśocitumarhasi ॥2- 25॥

It is said, this [indestructible] [is] unmanifest, this [indestructible] [is] inconceivable, this [indestructible] [is] unchangable. Therefore, thus having known this, you should not regret. 



Word-for-word translation


avyaktas (nominative, singular)  = unmanifest 


ayam (demonstrative pronoun, nominative, singular) = this


acintyas (nominative, singular) = inconceivable 


ayam (demonstrative pronoun, nominative, singular) = this


avikāryas (nominative, singular) = unchangeable 


ayam (demonstrative pronoun, nominative, singular) = this


ucyate (passive, present tense, 3rd person, singular) = it is said


tasmāt (adverb) (indeclinable) = therefore

evam (adverb) (indeclinable) = thus


viditvā (gerund) (indeclinable) = having known


enam (pronoun, 3rd person, accusative, singular) = this


na (adverb) (indeclinable) = not


anuśocitum (infinitive) (indeclinable) = to regret 


arhasi (present tense, 2nd person, singular) = you should



Commentary

Previous translations seem to get poetically creative with this verse, especially in the first part of the verse. 

This verse is a good example of the word "arhasi" with the infinitive "anuśocitum". In an extreme literal translation, one would translate "nānuśocitumarhasi" as "you merit to not regret", but most translations, like mine, smooth it out to say, "you should not regret" or something like that. 

Remember that demonstrative pronouns like "ayam", "enam", etc. can refer to something previously mentioned. In this case, it refers to the "embodiment" mentioned in chapter 2, verse 22. 

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