ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वामृतमश्नुते | अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते
jñeyaṃ yattatpravakṣyāmi yajjñātvāmṛtamaśnute . anādi matparaṃ brahma na sattannāsaducyate
ತಿಳಿಯಬೇಕಾದುದನ್ನು ನಾನು ಹೇಳುವೆನು, ಅದನ್ನು ತಿಳಿದು ಅಮರತ್ವವನ್ನು ಪಡೆಯುವನು. ಅನಾದಿ, ಪರಬ್ರಹ್ಮವು ಸತ್ತೂ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಅಸತ್ತೂ ಅಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.
I shall speak of that which is to be known, by realizing which one attains Immortality. The supreme Brahman is without any beginning. That is called neither being nor non-being.
ಭಗವಂತನು ತಿಳಿಯಬೇಕಾದ ಪರಬ್ರಹ್ಮನ ಸ್ವರೂಪವನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ವಿವರಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಪರಬ್ರಹ್ಮವು ಆದಿರಹಿತವಾದುದು ಮತ್ತು ಇಂದ್ರಿಯಗಳಿಗಾಗಲಿ, ಮನಸ್ಸಿಗಾಗಲಿ ಗೋಚರಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದನ್ನು 'ಇದೆ' ಅಥವಾ 'ಇಲ್ಲ' ಎಂದು ನಿರ್ದಿಷ್ಟವಾಗಿ ಹೇಳಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ, ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಅದು ಸತ್ (ಇರುವಿಕೆ) ಮತ್ತು ಅಸತ್ (ಇಲ್ಲದಿರುವಿಕೆ) ಎರಡನ್ನೂ ಮೀರಿದ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಅದು ಸಮಸ್ತ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಯನ್ನೂ ಮೀರಿ ನಿಂತಿರುವ ನಿರಾಕಾರ, ನಿರಂಜನ ತತ್ತ್ವವಾಗಿದೆ.
The Lord praises that which ought to be known (Para Brahman) in order to create in Arjuna (or any hearer) an intense desire to know It.Brahman cannot be expressed in words like being or nonbeing? because Brahman does not belong to any class or genus like a Brahmana? cow or horse. It has no ality like whiteness? blackness? etc. It has no relation or connection with anything else? because It is one without a second. It is no object of any sense. It is beyond the reach of the mind and the senses. It is actionless. It is the great transcendental and unmanifested Absolute. It is always the witnessing subject in all objects.The Vedas emphatically declare that Brahman is without attributes? activity? attachment or parts.In chapter IX. 19 it was stated that He is the being and also the nonbeing. It is now stated that He is neither being nor nonbeing. This would seem to the readers to be a contradiction in terms but it is not so. Though the manifest (perishable) and the unmanifest (imperishable) universe are both forms of Brahman? He is beyond both these. (Cf.VII.2XV.16?17and18)