Bhagavad Gita 8.1
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 1 of 28 · Arjuna's Journey
किं तद्ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम | अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तमधिदैवं किमुच्यते ||१||
kiṃ tad brahma kim adhyātmaṃ kiṃ karma puruṣottama | adhibhūtaṃ ca kiṃ proktam adhidaivaṃ kim ucyate || 1 ||
What is Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma, Adhibhūta, and Adhidaiva, O Puruṣottama?
Word by word (3)
- kiṃ tad brahma / kim adhyātmaṃ / kiṃ karma
- — What is that Brahman? / What is Adhyātma? / What is Karma? · kiṃ = what? (interrogative pronoun). tad = that (referring back to terms used in Ch.7 V29-30 — Arjuna is picking up those specific words). brahma = Brahman (the Absolute). kim = what? (repeated for each term). adhyātmaṃ = Adhyātma (adhi = over/concerning; ātman = the Self — Adhyātma = the knowledge/teaching concerning the Self, or the Self in its individual manifestation). kiṃ = what? karma = Karma (action — but here in the specific technical sense used in Ch.7 V29). These are the first three of Arjuna's seven questions, directly continuing from Ch.7 V29 (which said those who take refuge in Krishna know 'brahma... adhyātmaṃ... karma ca akhilam' — Brahman completely, Adhyātma fully, Karma entirely). Arjuna heard those terms and is now asking: define them.
- puruṣottama / adhibhūtaṃ ca kiṃ proktam / adhidaivaṃ kim ucyate
- — O Puruṣottama! / What is declared to be Adhibhūta? / What is called Adhidaiva? · puruṣottama = O Supreme Person (puruṣa = person, being; uttama = highest, supreme — puruṣottama = the Highest of Persons, a major Gita epithet for Krishna). adhibhūtaṃ = Adhibhūta (adhi = over; bhūta = being, element — Adhibhūta = the presiding reality over all beings/elements, the physical-material domain). ca = and. kiṃ = what? proktam = is declared to be (pra + √vac = to speak forth — proktam = that which is proclaimed/declared). adhidaivaṃ = Adhidaiva (adhi = over; daiva = divine, deity — Adhidaiva = the presiding divinity, the cosmic being over all devas). kim ucyate = what is called/said to be? (ucyate = is called, from √vac). Questions 4 and 5 of seven — Adhibhūta (the material cosmic domain) and Adhidaiva (the divine cosmic domain).
- V1's five terms — their origin in Ch.7 V29-30 and their place in the Gita's architecture
- — Arjuna asks about five of the six technical terms introduced in the final verses of Ch.7 — this verse is the hinge between chapters · V1 is one of the Gita's great structural hinges. Ch.7 V29 promised that those striving for liberation who take refuge in Krishna know Brahman, Adhyātma, and Karma completely. V30 added Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña — and said those who know these 'even at the time of death' with unified minds (yukta-cetasaḥ). V1 is Arjuna immediately asking: define all of these. The chapter is structured as a response to this question cluster. The five terms Arjuna asks about in V1 (Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma, Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva) represent five levels of cosmic reality: ultimate ground (Brahman), individual self-manifestation (Adhyātma), dynamic action (Karma), material cosmic domain (Adhibhūta), divine cosmic domain (Adhidaiva). V2 will add the sixth (Adhiyajña) and the central practical question (death).
What is that Brahman? What is the Self? What is action, O Supreme Person? What is called the ground of beings, and what the ground of the gods?
A modern analogy
A student attends a lecture where the professor closes with: 'Those who understand Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma, Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña will pass the final exam.' This verse is the student immediately raising their hand after class: 'Could you define each of those six terms?'
What it does NOT mean
This is not philosophical confusion on Arjuna's part — it is precise follow-up questioning. He is asking about exactly the terms Krishna used, in the order Krishna used them. This verse models ideal spiritual inquiry: focused, direct, continuing from the previous teaching without distraction.
Take with you
- This verse models the Gita's ideal of attentive inquiry: Arjuna doesn't get lost in secondary questions or emotional reactions — he asks precisely about what Krishna said. This quality of focused follow-up (praśna) is itself a spiritual capacity, praised elsewhere in the teaching on approaching the teacher with inquiry.
- The five terms of this verse are not exotic philosophy — they describe the structure of reality as experienced: there is the Absolute ground (Brahman), there is the individual self-manifestation (Adhyātma), there is the action that sustains existence (Karma), there is the material domain we live in (Adhibhūta), and there is the divine intelligence that governs it (Adhidaiva). The next verses will define each precisely — Brahman as the Imperishable, Adhyātma as its presence in each body, Karma as the cosmic offering, and the rest as perishable nature, the Puruṣa, and the Lord's own presence as the sacrifice in the body.
- This verse is a direct continuation of the close of Chapter 7 — the seeker's refuge in the Divine for liberation from aging and death, and the knowing of the Divine even at the time of death with a unified mind. The two chapters are one unbroken conversation. Reading this verse without those closing verses misses the context. The 700-verse Gita is one integrated teaching, not 18 independent essays.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
(missing — Swarupananda's indexed text begins at V2 for Ch.8; V1 is Arjuna's first question) [4]
What is that Brahman, what is Adhyātma, what is Karma, O Puruṣottama? What is declared to be Adhibhūta, and Adhidaiva, what is called? [5]
What is that Brahman, what is Adhyatma, and what, O best of men! is Karma? What also is Adhibhuta, and what Adhidaivata? [6]
Who is that BRAHMA? What that Soul of Souls, The ADHYATMAN? What, Thou Best of All! Thy work, the KARMA? Tell me what it is Thou namest ADHIBHUTA? What again Means ADHIDAIVA? [7]
What is that Brahman, what the Adhyatma, and what, O best of beings! is action? And what is called the Adhibhuta? And who is the Adhidaiva? [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Taking refuge in Me for liberation from old age and death — they know Brahman, Adhyātma, and all of Karma.
Those who know Me as Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña — they know Me even at death, with unified minds.
Brahman is the Imperishable; Adhyātma is its presence in each body; Karma is the cosmic offering sustaining all beings.
Arjuna sees his own people ready to die — and his body breaks before his mind can argue.
Your body changed from childhood to age without 'you' dying — changing bodies is no different.
Unborn. Undying. Ancient. Eternal. Not slain when the body is slain — this is what you are.
Verse 1 of 28 · back to Chapter 8