📿 Shloka Collection

Adhibhutam Ksharo Bhavah

Gita 8.4 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 8 — Akshara Brahma Yoga
अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम् ।
अधियज्ञोऽहमेवात्र देहे देहभृतां वर ॥
Adhibhutam ksharo bhavah purushashchadhidaivatam,
Adhiyajno'ham evattra dehe dehabhritam vara.
अधिभूतम्
the material principle
क्षरः भावः
the perishable nature
पुरुषः
the cosmic being (Hiranyagarbha)
अधिदैवतम्
the divine principle
अधियज्ञः
the Lord of sacrifice
अहम् एव
I alone
अत्र देहे
in this body
देहभृताम् वर
O best among embodied beings

Krishna answers the remaining questions. Adhibhuta — the material world — is everything that changes and perishes. Adhidaiva — the divine principle — is the cosmic being. And adhiyajna — the one who presides over all sacrifice within the body — is Krishna himself.

There is something deeply reassuring in this last statement. Krishna says: within your body, the one who inspires every good act, who sustains every offering — that is Me. Like a mother quietly overseeing everything in the household, God sits within every being, gently guiding from the inside.

God is not distant or unreachable. He dwells in the heart of every living creature. This is one of the Gita's most comforting assurances.

Shlokas 8.3 and 8.4 together answer all seven of Arjuna's questions. From 8.5 onward, Krishna turns to the most important topic — how to remember God at the moment of death. The statement "adhiyajno'ham evattra dehe" is one of the Gita's defining declarations: the supreme Lord resides within every being.

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