Sanskrit
आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन । मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते ॥
ābrahmabhuvanāl lokāḥ punarāvartino'rjuna mām upetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na vidyate
Translation
The worlds, beginning with the world of Brahmâ, they come and go, O Arjuna; but he who cometh unto Me, O Kaunteya, he knoweth birth no more.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
This is the verse that raises the stakes on everything before it: even the world of Brahma, the highest and longest-lived of the cosmic realms, is still subject to return and further rebirth. Only reaching Krishna is exempt. It’s a deliberate demotion of what popular cosmology treats as the ultimate destination, in favor of a goal beyond even that — and verse 17 immediately supplies the timescale that makes “highest and longest-lived” concrete. Ā-brahma-bhuvanāt — “as far up as Brahmā’s own world” — sweeps every heaven into the category of the returnable. Liberation is not a higher world; it is exit from the whole system of worlds.
Study deeper
Word by word
- ābrahmabhuvanāl lokāḥआब्रह्मभुवनाल् लोकाः
- the worlds, up to the realm of Brahmā (ā-brahma-bhuvanāt + lokāḥ)
- punarāvartino'rjunaपुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन
- are subject to return, O Arjuna (punaḥ-āvartinaḥ + arjuna)
- mām upetya tu kaunteyaमां उपेत्य तु कौन्तेय
- but having reached Me, O son of Kuntī (mām + upetya + tu + kaunteya)
- punarjanma na vidyateपुनर्जन्म न विद्यते
- there is no rebirth (punaḥ-janma + na + vidyate)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Naming Brahma’s world specifically, rather than some lesser, unnamed realm, is what gives this verse its force — it isn’t ranking Krishna above something obviously inferior, it’s ranking him above the very thing popular cosmology already treated as the ceiling. Demoting the top of an existing hierarchy is a stronger claim than simply adding a new tier above unnamed lower ones.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you want to make the case that a new priority actually matters most, don't just add it to your list — show explicitly how it outranks the thing you already treat as the ceiling; that comparison does more work than treating the new priority in isolation.
Professional
- When advocating for a new metric or standard, the persuasive move isn't introducing it alongside the old ones — it's showing plainly how it outranks the metric your organization already treats as the gold standard, because that's the comparison people actually have to update.
Family & Social
- When you want a family member to reconsider a long-held priority, don't just present your alternative as one more option — show directly how it compares to the thing they already treat as the obvious best choice; that direct comparison is what shifts a settled ranking.
Ask yourself
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