Sanskrit
अन्तवन्त इमे देहा नित्यस्योक्ताः शरीरिणः । अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद्युध्यस्व भारत ॥
antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ anāśino'prameyasya tasmād yudhyasva bhārata
Translation
These bodies of the embodied One, who is eternal, indestructible and immeasurable, are known as finite. Therefore fight, O Bhârata.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The argument turns back toward action for the first time since verse 11’s rebuke: bodies, unlike the self, are finite — so fight. It’s worth noticing the logical shape here: this isn’t “fighting doesn’t matter,” it’s “fighting doesn’t do what you think it does,” which is a very different, narrower claim. Tasmāt yudhyasva — “therefore, fight” — is the first of three times Krishna closes an argument with that exact imperative (again at BG 2.37 and, in effect, at BG 3.30). Each time the “therefore” rests on a different premise; this one rests on the body being antavat, bounded.
Study deeper
Word by word
- antavantaअन्तवन्त
- having an end, finite
- imeइमे
- these
- dehāदेहा
- bodies
- nityasyoktāḥनित्यस्योक्ताः
- are said, of the eternal [self] (nityasya + uktāḥ)
- śarīriṇaḥशरीरिणः
- of the embodied one
- anāśino'prameyasyaअनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य
- of the indestructible, immeasurable one (anāśinaḥ + aprameyasya)
- tasmādतस्माद्
- therefore
- yudhyasvaयुध्यस्व
- fight
- bhārataभारत
- O descendant of Bharata
Commentary
Site Commentary
“Therefore” is carrying an enormous amount of weight in one word. Everything from verse 12 through 17 built the metaphysical case; this verse compresses all of it into a single tasmāt before pivoting straight to a command. It’s worth noticing how little space the transition from theory to instruction actually gets — the chapter trusts that once the metaphysics lands, the practical conclusion barely needs arguing for.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Once you've actually internalized a hard truth — not just heard it, but let it land — notice how little further convincing you need to act on it. If you're still needing lots of persuasion to act, the truth probably hasn't landed yet, no matter how many times you've agreed with it.
Professional
- When a team has genuinely internalized a principle, the move from insight to action should be nearly immediate — if you're still spending most of your meetings re-justifying the 'therefore,' the underlying premise likely hasn't actually landed yet, whatever people are saying.
Family & Social
- When you've truly come to understand something hard about a relationship, the next action tends to follow almost without further argument — if you find yourself still needing to convince yourself to act on it, sit with whether you've actually accepted the premise yet.
Ask yourself
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