Shloka

कस्माच्च ते न नमेरन्महात्मन्
गरीयसे ब्रह्मणोऽप्यादिकर्त्रे |
अनन्त देवेश जगन्निवास
त्वमक्षरं सदसत्तत्परं यत् ||११-३७||

Transliteration

kasmācca te na nameranmahātman garīyase brahmaṇo.apyādikartre .
ananta deveśa jagannivāsa tvamakṣaraṃ sadasattatparaṃ yat ||11-37||

Translations

Dr.S.Sankaranarayan

11.37. O Mighty One ! Why should they not bow down to You, the Primal Creater, Who are greater than even Brahma (personal god) ? O Endless One, O Lord of gods, O Abode of the universe ! You are unalterable, existent, non-existent and also that which is beyond both.

Shri Purohit Swami

11.37 How should they do otherwise? O Thou Supremest Self, greater than the Powers of creation, the First Cause, Infinite, the Lord of Lords, the Home of the universe, Imperishable, Being and Not-Being, yet transcending both.

Sri Abhinav Gupta

11.37 Kasmat etc. Existent (11.Sat) : i.e. as a purport of words (11.or as material object). Non-existent (11.Asat) : Because, the Absolute does not become an object of perception. Or Asat signifies negation; [in fact] it is also well connected with the words which denote it directly, or indicate it indirectly by denoting what contains it; it also enjoys a form (11.becomes an object) of knowledge (11.of its own); and [hence] is has no separate existence other than the existence of the Absolute Brahman ? (11.It is) beyond both the existent and non-existent : For, It is realised when the knowledge of both of them disappears. (11.38)

Sri Ramanuja

11.37 O Mahatman, for what reason should Brahma and others not bow down to You, who are great and are the First Being and the Creator even of Brahma, namely, Hiranyagarbha?

O Infinite, O Lord of the gods, O You who have the universe for Your abode! You are the ‘Aksara’. What does not perish, is the Aksara, here, the ‘principle of individual self’; for the individual self does not perish as established in Sruti passages: ‘The intelligent self is not born, nor dies’ (Ka. U., 1.2.18). You alone are the ’existent and the non-existent,’ the principle of Prakrti, in its condition as effect and in its condition as cause. This is denoted by the terms ‘Sat’ (existent) and ‘Asat’ (non-existent). You alone are the state of effect denoted by the term ‘Sat’, which is the state of diversification by names and forms, and also the state of cause, denoted by the tetm ‘Asat’, which is the state incapable of such divisions and diversities. ‘What is beyond both’ - what is beyond Prakrti and the individual self associated with the Prakrti, as also from the principle of liberated selves who are different from those associated with Prakrti, i.e., bound souls. You alone are that also.

Therefore:

Sri Shankaracharya

11.37 Ca, and; since You are the Primal Creator, the Cause, api, even; brahmanah, of Brahma, of Hiranyagarbha; therefore, kasmat, why, for what reason; should they na nameran, not bow down; te, to You; mahatman, O exalted One; gariyase, who are greater (than all)! Hence, why should these not bow down adi-karte, to the first Creator? Therefore You are fit for, i.e. the fit object of, delight etc. and salutation as well. Ananta, O infinite One; devesa, supreme God; jagannivasa, Abode of the Universe; tvam, You; are the aksaram, Immutable; tat param yat, that which is Transcendental, which is heard of in the Upanisads;-what is that?-sad-asat, being and nonbeing. Being is that which exists, and non-being is that with regard to which the idea of nonexistence arises. (You are) that Immutable of which these two-being and non-being-become the limiting adjuncts; which (Immutable), as a result, is metaphorically referred to as being and non-being. But in reality that Immutable is transcendental to being and non-being. ‘That Immutable which the knowers of the Vedas declare’ (8.11; cf. Ka. 1.2.15)-that is You Yourself, nothing else. This is the idea. He praises again:

Swami Adidevananda

11.37 (a) And why should they not, O Mahatman, bow down to You who are great, being the first Creator, even of Brahma?

(b) O Infinite, Lord of gods, O You who have the universe for Your abode! You are the imperishable individual self, the existent and the non-existent, and that which is beyond both.

Swami Gambirananda

11.37 And why should they not bow down to You, O exalted [i.e. not narrow-minded.] One, who are greater (than all) and who are the first Creator even of Brahma! O infinite One, supreme God, Abode of the Universe, You are the Immutable,being and non-being, (and) that which is Transcendental.

Swami Sivananda

11.37 And why should they not, O great Soul, bow to Thee Who art greater (than all else), the primal cause even of the Creator (Brahma), O Infinite Being, O Lord of the gods, O Abode of the universe; Thou art the imperishable, the Being, the non-being and That which is the supreme (that which is beyond the Being and the non-being).

Commentaries

Swami Sivananda

11.37 कस्मात् why? च and? ते they? न not? नमेरन् may prostrate? महात्मन् O greatsouled One? गरीयसे greater? ब्रह्मणः of Brahma? अपि also? आदिकर्त्रे the primal cause? अनन्त O Infinite Being? देवेश O Lord of the gods? जगन्निवास O Abode of the universe? त्वम् Thou? अक्षरम् Imperishable? सत् the Being? असत् nonbeing? तत् That? परम् the Supreme? यत् which.Commentary The Lord is Mahatma. He is greater than all else. He is the imperishable. So He is the proper object of worship? love and delight.That which exists in the three periods of time is Sat. Brahman is Sat. That which does not exist in the three periods of time is Asat. This world is Asat. This body is Asat.The words Sat and Asat mean here the manifested and the unmanifested which form the adjuncts of the Akshara (imperishable). In reality the Akshara transcends both these. The word Akshara is applied in the Gita sometimes to the Unmanifest (Nature) and sometimes to the Supreme Being.Ananta is He Who is free from the three kinds of limitations (of time? space and thing) which have already been explained.Arjuna again praises the Lord thus