The imperishable at the heart of things

śrībhagavānuvācaakṣaraṃ brahma paramaṃ svabhāvo’adhyātmamucyatebhūtabhāvodbhavakaro visargaḥ karmasaṃjñitaḥ

The imperishable, the supreme, is Brahman. Its essential nature in each being is the Self. The creative outpouring that brings beings forth is called action.

What it means

Krishna begins answering, one term at a time. Brahman, the infinite reality, is what never decays. The Self is how that reality lives as each one of us. And karma, in its widest sense, is the great creative act that brings every living thing into being. Action is not just what we do. It is how the world comes to be.

The story

Arjuna asked for definitions, and Krishna gives them plainly, without lecturing. The teacher who will soon show a vision of the whole universe starts here, patiently, with words.

In your life

Picture a father holding his newborn at three in the morning, astonished that a whole person came from almost nothing. Next time you see something begin, a seed, a child, an idea, pause and notice the wonder in it.