Sanskrit
ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाऽहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च । शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य सुखस्यैकान्तिकस्य च ॥
brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhā'ham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca
Translation
For I am the abode of the Eternal, and of the indestructible nectar of immortality, of immemorial righteousness, and of unending bliss.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The chapter’s closing move resolves an ambiguity that verses 19 and 26 could otherwise leave open. If “entering my Nature” and “becoming fit for the Eternal” are the goal, it might sound as though Krishna is pointing past himself toward an impersonal Brahman. This verse says the reverse: Brahman itself rests on him — he is its pratishtha, its ground, along with immortality, eternal dharma, and unmixed bliss. It’s a deliberately placed capstone, closing the chapter on Krishna’s own priority rather than on the gunas or even on Brahman, and it sets up chapter 15’s Purushottama teaching, where Krishna is described as beyond both the perishable and imperishable. The chapter’s last claim reverses the usual hierarchy: Krishna is not within Brahman but its pratiṣṭhā, its ground and support — and likewise of amṛta (immortality), eternal dharma, and unconditional bliss. The personal is placed under the impersonal absolute, the same move as BG 15.18’s Puruṣottama.
Study deeper
Word by word
- brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhā'hamब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाऽहं
- for I am the ground of Brahman (brahmaṇaḥ + hi + pratiṣṭhā + aham)
- amṛtasyāvyayasya caअमृतस्याव्ययस्य च
- and of the imperishable immortal (amṛtasya + avyayasya + ca)
- śāśvatasya ca dharmasyaशाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य
- and of the eternal dharma (śāśvatasya + ca + dharmasya)
- sukhasyaikāntikasya caसुखस्यैकान्तिकस्य च
- and of absolute bliss (sukhasya + ekāntikasya + ca)
Commentary
Site Commentary
For twenty-six verses, Brahman, immortality, and dharma have all sounded like the horizon the teaching was moving toward — the largest available referents. This closing verse quietly reverses the architecture: those aren’t the foundation Krishna’s teaching rests on, they’re what rests on him. It’s a one-verse reveal that a reader could easily have missed being set up, since nothing before it explicitly said the destination and the ground were different things.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Periodically check whether the goal you've been treating as the largest, final horizon in your own thinking is actually itself resting on something more basic you haven't examined — the biggest-sounding term in a plan isn't always the actual foundation.
Professional
- Periodically check whether the strategic objective everyone treats as the ultimate goal is itself resting on a more basic capability that hasn't been named — chasing the largest-sounding target without securing its actual foundation is a common way initiatives stall.
Family & Social
- Periodically check whether what you've been treating as the ultimate goal for your family — a milestone, a status — is actually resting on something more basic, like trust or presence, that needs securing first; the biggest-sounding goal isn't always the real foundation.
Ask yourself
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