Shloka

परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः |
यः स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति ||८-२०||

Transliteration

parastasmāttu bhāvo.anyo.avyakto.avyaktātsanātanaḥ .
yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu na vinaśyati ||8-20||

Translations

Dr.S.Sankaranarayan

8.20. But there exists another Being which is beyond this, and It is both manifest and unmanifest and is etnernal. It is this Being that does not perish while all [the other] beings perish.

Shri Purohit Swami

8.20 In truth, therefore, there is the Eternal Unmanifest, which is beyond and above the Unmanifest Spirit of Creation, which is never destroyed when all these being perish.

Sri Abhinav Gupta

8.20 See Comment under 8.22

Sri Ramanuja

8.20 - 8.21 Superior, as an object of human end, to this unmanifest (Avyakta), which is inanimate Prakrti, there is another state of being, of a kind different from this, but also called Avyakta. It has only knowledge-form and is also unmanifest. It is the self, Atman. It is unmanifest because It cannot be apprehended by any means of knowledge (Pramanas). The meaning is that Its nature is unie and that It can be known only to Itself. That is, It can be understood only vaguely in the ordinary ways of knowing. It is eternal, namely, ever-enduring, because It is not subject to origination and annihilation. In texts like ‘For those who meditate on the imperishable, undefinable, the unmanifest’ (12.3) and ‘The imperishable is called the unchanging’ (15.16) - that being the self. It has been called the unmanifest (Avyakta) and imperishable (Aksara); when all material elements like ether, etc., with their causes and effects are annihilated, the self is not annihilated in spite of It being found alone with all the elements. [The elements are what constitute the bodies of beings.]

The knowers of the Vedas declare It as the highest end. The meaning is that the imperishable entity which has been denoted by the term ‘highest goal’ in the passage, ‘Whosoever abandons the body and departs (in the manner described) reaches the highest state (Dhama)’ (8.13), is the self (Atman) abiding in Its essential nature free from the contact with the Prakrti. This self, which abides thus in Its essential nature, by attaining which It does not return, - this is My ‘highest abode,’ i.e., is the highest object of My control. The inanimate Prakrti is one object of My control. The animate Prakrti associated with this inanimate Prakrti is the second object of My control. The pristine nature of the freed self, free from contact with inanimate matter, is the highest object of My rule. Such is the meaning. This state is also one of non-return to Samsara. Or the term ‘dhama’ may signify ’luminosity’. And luminosity connotes knowledge. The essential nature of the freed self is boundless knowledge, or supreme light, which stands in contrast to the shrunken knowledge of the self, when involved in Prakrti. [The description given above is that of Kaivalya, the state of self-luminous existence as the pure self].

Sri Krsna now teaches that the object of attainment for the Jnanin, is totally different from this:

Sri Shankaracharya

8.20 He is parah, distinct, different;-From what?-tasmat, from that aforesaid (Unmanifested). The word tu, but, is meant for showing the distinction of the Immutable that is going to be spoken of from the Unmanifested. He is bhavah, the Reality, the supreme Brahman called the Immutable.

Even though different, there is the possibility of similarlity of characteristics. Hence, for obviating this the Lord says: anyah, the other, of a different characteristic, and He is the Immutable which is beyond the range of the organs. It has been said that He is distinct from that. From what, again is He distinct? Avyaktat, from the Unmaifested spoken of earlier, which is the seed of the multitude of beings, and which is characterized as ignorance (avidya) [Ast. adds, ‘anyah vilaksanah, bhavah ityabhiprayah: The meaning is that the Reality is different and distinct (form that Unmanifested).-Tr.] He is sanatnah, eternal. Bhavah, the Reality; yah sah, who is such; na, does not; vinasyati, get destroyed; when sarvesu bhutesu, all beings, beginning from Brahma; nasyatsu, get destroyed.

Swami Adidevananda

8.20 But distinct from that Unmanifested is the other eternal unmainfest Reality, who does not get destroyed when all beings get destroyed.

8.20 But verily there exists, higher than this Unmanifested, another unmanifested Eternal, which is not destroyed when all beings are destroyed.

8.20 He is parah, distinct, different;-From what?-tasmat, from that aforesaid (Unmanifested). The word tu, but, is meant for showing the distinction of the Immutable that is going to be spoken of from the Unmanifested. He is bhavah, the Reality, the supreme Brahman called the Immutable.

Even though different, there is the possibility of similarlity of characteristics. Hence, for obviating this the Lord says: anyah, the other, of a different characteristic, and He is the Immutable which is beyond the range of the organs. It has been said that He is distinct from that. From what, again is He distinct? Avyaktat, from the Unmaifested spoken of earlier, which is the seed of the multitude of beings, and which is characterized as ignorance (avidya) [Ast. adds, ‘anyah vilaksanah, bhavah ityabhiprayah: The meaning is that the Reality is different and distinct (form that Unmanifested).-Tr.] He is sanatnah, eternal. Bhavah, the Reality; yah sah, who is such; na, does not; vinasyati, get destroyed; when sarvesu bhutesu, all beings, beginning from Brahma; nasyatsu, get destroyed.

Swami Gambirananda

8.20 But distinct from that Unmanifested is the other eternal unmainfest Reality, who does not get destroyed when all beings get destroyed.

Swami Sivananda

8.20 But verily there exists, higher than this Unmanifested, another unmanifested Eternal, which is not destroyed when all beings are destroyed.

Commentaries

Swami Sivananda

8.20 परः higher? तस्मात् than that? तु but? भावः existence? अन्यः another? अव्यक्तः unmanifested? अव्यक्तात् than the unmanifested? सनातनः Eternal? यः who? सः that? सर्वेषु all? भूतेषु beings? नश्यत्सु when destroyed? न not? विनश्यति is destroyed.Commentary Another unmanifested in the ancient or eternal Para Brahman Who is distinct from the Unmanifested (Avyakta or Primordial Nature)? Who is of ite a different nature. It is superior to Hiranyagarbha (the Cosmic Creative Intelligence) and the Unmanifested Nature because It is their cause. It is not destroyed when all the beings from Brahma down to the ants or the blade of grass are destroyed. (Cf.XV.17)