अव्यक्तोऽयमचिन्त्योऽयमविकार्योऽयमुच्यते। तस्मादेवं विदित्वैनं नानुशोचितुमर्हसि॥
avyakto 'yam acintyo 'yam avikāryo 'yam ucyate / tasmād evaṃ viditvainaṃ nānuśocitum arhasi
Unmanifest, inconceivable, unchangeable — knowing this, you should not grieve.
Word by word (5)
- avyaktaḥ ayam
- — this is unmanifest / cannot be made visible
- acintyaḥ ayam
- — this is inconceivable / beyond thought
- avikāryaḥ ayam ucyate
- — this is said to be unchangeable / without modification
- tasmāt evam viditvā enam
- — therefore, having known this to be so
- na anuśocitum arhasi
- — you should not grieve · The full circle: from V11 ('you grieve for those who should not be grieved for') to V25 ('you should not grieve'). The teaching in V12-24 is the bridge between those two statements.
'This is said to be unmanifest, inconceivable, unchangeable. Therefore, having understood it to be such, you should not grieve.'
A modern analogy
You cannot see space, think space, or change space — yet it contains everything. The Atman is like that: unmanifest (no physical form), inconceivable (no thought can contain it), unchangeable (nothing modifies it). Once you understand this — really understand, not just intellectually accept — the grief for its apparent 'death' becomes groundless.
Take with you
- 'Acintyaḥ' — inconceivable, beyond thought. This is important: the Atman cannot be captured in thought. It can only be known through direct experience.
- V25 brings the teaching full circle: from the diagnosis ('you grieve wrongly') to the conclusion ('therefore do not grieve') via V12-24's philosophical teaching.
- 'Nānuśocitum arhasi' — you should not grieve. This is the practical conclusion of the entire philosophical section.
Three final attributes are added: avyakta (unmanifest — beyond the realm of perception), acintya (inconceivable — beyond the realm of thought), avikārya (unchangeable — beyond modification). These three together cover the entire spectrum of ordinary knowledge: perception, reasoning, and change-tracking. The Atman escapes all three. This means it cannot be known through the ordinary instruments of knowledge — which is why the tradition requires a teacher, a practice, and direct experience (anubhava) rather than just reasoning. The verse closes with 'nānuśocitum arhasi' — you should not grieve. This is the practical conclusion of the entire philosophical argument: V12-25 have been the argument that makes this conclusion valid.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
This is said to be unmanifested, unthinkable, and unchangeable. Therefore, knowing this to be such, you should not grieve. [4]
Nay, and the Presence is unmanifest, incomprehensible, and all-unalterable! Knowing which, thou shouldst not mourn! [7]
It is unperceivable, it is unthinkable, it is unchangeable, so it is said. Therefore, knowing it to be such, it does not befit thee to grieve. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
The unwise regard Me — the unmanifest — as manifest, not knowing My supreme, imperishable, and unsurpassed state.
Tāmasic karma: begun from delusion, ignoring consequences, waste, injury to beings, and one's own capacity.
Once that joy is found, no other gain seems greater — established in it, even the heaviest sorrow cannot shake you.
Brahman-become, serene, neither grieving nor desiring, equal to all beings — he attains supreme bhakti to Me.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?