जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः । त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन ॥
janma karma ca me divyam evaṃ yo vetti tattvataḥ | tyaktvā dehaṃ punar janma naiti mām eti so 'rjuna ||
Whoever truly knows My divine birth and action — leaving the body, they do not return. They come to Me.
Word by word (3)
- janma karma ca me divyam evaṃ yo vetti tattvataḥ
- — whoever knows My birth and action to be divine in this way — in truth · Janma = birth. Karma = action. Me = My. Divyam = divine (from div = to shine/be divine). Evaṃ = thus, in this way (i.e., as described in V6-8). Yo = whoever. Vetti = knows. Tattvataḥ = in truth, in reality (from tattva = truth/reality + taḥ = ablative suffix). The knowing must be tattvataḥ — not superficially but in genuine depth.
- tyaktvā deham punar janma na eti mām eti
- — having left the body, does not come to rebirth — comes to Me · Tyaktvā = having abandoned (from tyaj = to leave). Deham = the body. Punar janma = rebirth (punar = again). Na eti = does not come. Mām eti = comes to Me. The extraordinary promise: genuine understanding of the divine nature of avatāra breaks the rebirth cycle. Not worship of a historical figure but tattva-knowledge of the principle.
- divyam / tattvataḥ
- — divyam = divine (from div = the sky/heaven; divine = pertaining to the Self-luminous; not merely extraordinary but categorically non-material — Krishna's birth and action are divya because they operate from a different ontological level than human birth-and-death cycles); tattvataḥ = in truth/in accordance with the tattva (tattva = that-ness, the real principle; tathā + tva = the-ness of that; knowing Me divyam is not enough — one must know tattvataḥ, in the precise truth of what the divyam actually means)
Whoever knows the truth of My divine birth and action in this way — having left the body, they do not come to rebirth. They come to Me, O Arjuna.
A modern analogy
Deep understanding transforms. When you genuinely grasp that the universe is not indifferent but structurally responsive — that the dharma-restoration principle is real — your relationship to life and death changes. You no longer operate purely from fear. V9: that transformation of understanding is itself the liberation.
Take with you
- Tattvataḥ — the knowing must be genuine and deep, not merely intellectual acquaintance.
- The promise connects understanding to liberation: knowing the truth of divine action breaks the cycle.
- Mām eti (comes to Me) — the destination is unity with the source, not a separate heaven.
- This verse is the fruit of the V6-8 teaching: understand the avatāra principle deeply and be freed.
V9 gives the soteriological fruit of the avatāra teaching: tattvataḥ knowledge of divine birth and action leads to liberation (na punar janma). Shankaracharya makes an important distinction: this is not mere historical knowledge about Krishna's birth but tattva-jñāna — the direct understanding of the divine principle being described. One who understands that all dharma-restoring manifestations across time are expressions of the same infinite principle — and that this principle is the Ātman — has effectively realized the non-difference between Ātman and Brahman. That realization dissolves the saṃskāras (residual impressions) that drive rebirth. Mām eti (comes to Me) is therefore not arrival at an external deity but recognition of one's own ultimate nature.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
He who knows thus in truth My divine birth and action, he, having abandoned the body, comes not to re-birth; he comes to Me, O Arjuna. [1]
He who knows thus in truth My divine birth and action, having abandoned the body, is not born again; he comes to Me, O Arjuna. [4]
He who knows in truth this my divine birth and work is not reborn when he leaves his body, but comes to me, O Arjuna. [6]
Whoso thus knows My birth divine and My Work divine, when he quits the flesh No more returns to earthly life, but comes to Me. [7]
He who knows this my divine birth and work in its true nature — having abandoned the body, he is not born again. He comes to Me, O Arjuna. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Many, freed from attachment, fear, and anger, purified by knowledge-austerity — have attained My being.
Whoever at death remembers Me alone — leaving the body — attains My very Being. Of this, there is no doubt.
No being — neither on earth nor among the devas in heaven — is free from these three guṇas born of Prakṛti.
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?