Sanskrit
कस्माच्च ते न नमेरन्महात्मन् गरीयसे ब्रह्मणोऽप्यादिकर्त्रे । अनन्त देवेश जगन्निवास त्वमक्षरं सदसत्तत्परं यत् ॥
kasmāc ca te na nameran mahātman garīyase brahmaṇo'py ādikartre ananta deveśa jagannivāsa tvam akṣaraṃ sad asat tat paraṃ yat
Translation
How should they otherwise, O loftiest Self! First Cause! Brahmâ Himself less great than Thou. Infinite, God of Gods, home of all worlds, Unperishing, Sat, Asat, That supreme!
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The rhetorical question — how could they not bow — turns praise into argument, and the argument reaches for the oldest available vocabulary: “sad asat,” being and non-being, is the same polarity the Rig Veda’s creation hymns use to describe the state before existence itself. Placing Krishna beyond that pairing (“tat paraṃ,” That which is beyond) is a stronger claim than calling him a creator; it puts him prior to the categories creation and non-creation would even need. Ranking him above Brahmā, the creator-god who was merely one more figure catalogued back in verse 15, keeps escalating a hierarchy this hymn has no intention of stopping until it runs out of gods to name. Sad asat tat paraṃ yat — “being, non-being, and what is beyond that pair” — reaches for the Rig Veda’s creation-hymn vocabulary and then puts Krishna prior to the categories creation would even need. Ranking him above Brahmā, catalogued as one more figure at BG 11.15.
Study deeper
Word by word
- kasmāc ca te na nameran mahātmanकस्माच् च ते न नमेरन् महात्मन्
- and why should they not bow to you, O great Being (kasmāt + ca + te + na + nameran + mahā-ātman)
- garīyase brahmaṇo'py ādikartreगरीयसे ब्रह्मणोऽप्य् आदिकर्त्रे
- greater [even than Brahmā], the first maker, beyond Brahmā (garīyase + brahmaṇaḥ + api + ādi-kartre)
- ananta deveśa jagannivāsaअनन्त देवेश जगन्निवास
- O infinite one, Lord of gods, abode of the world (ananta + deva-īśa + jagat-nivāsa)
- tvam akṣaraṃ sad asat tat paraṃ yatत्वं अक्षरं सद् असत् तत् परं यत्
- you are the Imperishable, being, non-being, and that which is beyond (tvam + akṣaram + sat + asat + tat + param + yat)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The verse doesn’t discard the old cosmology to make its case — it borrows the Rig Veda’s own oldest categories, being and non-being, and then places Krishna prior to both. That’s a different rhetorical strategy than declaring the old hierarchy wrong; it keeps every rung of the ladder intact and simply adds one more above the top, which is a harder claim to argue with than a rejection would have been.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you want to argue that something matters more than the framework you were raised in ranks it, you don't have to reject that framework outright — you can work within its own terms and place your claim one level above what it already recognizes as highest.
Professional
- When pitching a new priority against an org's existing hierarchy of concerns, framing it as more foundational than what's already ranked first is often more persuasive than framing it as a replacement — extend the ladder instead of tearing it down.
Family & Social
- If you want a family member to understand that something matters to you more than their existing scale of priorities suggests, try placing your case above what they already value most rather than arguing their values are wrong — it's an easier claim to actually hear.
Ask yourself
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