किं तद्ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम | अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तमधिदैवं किमुच्यते ||१||
kiṃ tad brahma kim adhyātmaṃ kiṃ karma puruṣottama | adhibhūtaṃ ca kiṃ proktam adhidaivaṃ kim ucyate || 1 ||
What is Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma, Adhibhūta, and Adhidaiva, O Puruṣottama?
Word by word (3)
- kiṃ tad brahma / kim adhyātmaṃ / kiṃ karma
- — What is that Brahman? / What is Adhyātma? / What is Karma? · kiṃ = what? (interrogative pronoun). tad = that (referring back to terms used in Ch.7 V29-30 — Arjuna is picking up those specific words). brahma = Brahman (the Absolute). kim = what? (repeated for each term). adhyātmaṃ = Adhyātma (adhi = over/concerning; ātman = the Self — Adhyātma = the knowledge/teaching concerning the Self, or the Self in its individual manifestation). kiṃ = what? karma = Karma (action — but here in the specific technical sense used in Ch.7 V29). These are the first three of Arjuna's seven questions, directly continuing from Ch.7 V29 (which said those who take refuge in Krishna know 'brahma... adhyātmaṃ... karma ca akhilam' — Brahman completely, Adhyātma fully, Karma entirely). Arjuna heard those terms and is now asking: define them.
- puruṣottama / adhibhūtaṃ ca kiṃ proktam / adhidaivaṃ kim ucyate
- — O Puruṣottama! / What is declared to be Adhibhūta? / What is called Adhidaiva? · puruṣottama = O Supreme Person (puruṣa = person, being; uttama = highest, supreme — puruṣottama = the Highest of Persons, a major Gita epithet for Krishna). adhibhūtaṃ = Adhibhūta (adhi = over; bhūta = being, element — Adhibhūta = the presiding reality over all beings/elements, the physical-material domain). ca = and. kiṃ = what? proktam = is declared to be (pra + √vac = to speak forth — proktam = that which is proclaimed/declared). adhidaivaṃ = Adhidaiva (adhi = over; daiva = divine, deity — Adhidaiva = the presiding divinity, the cosmic being over all devas). kim ucyate = what is called/said to be? (ucyate = is called, from √vac). Questions 4 and 5 of seven — Adhibhūta (the material cosmic domain) and Adhidaiva (the divine cosmic domain).
- V1's five terms — their origin in Ch.7 V29-30 and their place in the Gita's architecture
- — Arjuna asks about five of the six technical terms introduced in the final verses of Ch.7 — this verse is the hinge between chapters · V1 is one of the Gita's great structural hinges. Ch.7 V29 promised that those striving for liberation who take refuge in Krishna know Brahman, Adhyātma, and Karma completely. V30 added Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña — and said those who know these 'even at the time of death' with unified minds (yukta-cetasaḥ). V1 is Arjuna immediately asking: define all of these. The chapter is structured as a response to this question cluster. The five terms Arjuna asks about in V1 (Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma, Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva) represent five levels of cosmic reality: ultimate ground (Brahman), individual self-manifestation (Adhyātma), dynamic action (Karma), material cosmic domain (Adhibhūta), divine cosmic domain (Adhidaiva). V2 will add the sixth (Adhiyajña) and the central practical question (death).
Ch.8 opens with Arjuna asking five of his seven questions — all using technical terms Krishna introduced at the end of Ch.7. Arjuna is direct and attentive: he heard those words in V29-30 and immediately asks for definitions. The five terms span the full range of cosmic reality from the Absolute (Brahman) to the individual (Adhyātma) to action (Karma) to the material world (Adhibhūta) to the divine realm (Adhidaiva).
A modern analogy
A student attends a lecture where the professor closes with: 'Those who understand Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma, Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña will pass the final exam.' V1 is the student immediately raising their hand after class: 'Could you define each of those six terms?'
What it does NOT mean
This is not philosophical confusion on Arjuna's part — it is precise follow-up questioning. He is asking about exactly the terms Krishna used, in the order Krishna used them. V1 models ideal spiritual inquiry: focused, direct, continuing from the previous teaching without distraction.
Take with you
- V1 models the Gita's ideal of attentive inquiry: Arjuna doesn't get lost in secondary questions or emotional reactions — he asks precisely about what Krishna said. This quality of focused follow-up (praśna) is itself a spiritual capacity, praised in V34.
- The five terms of V1 are not exotic philosophy — they describe the structure of reality as experienced: there is the Absolute ground (Brahman), there is the individual self-manifestation (Adhyātma), there is the action that sustains existence (Karma), there is the material domain we live in (Adhibhūta), and there is the divine intelligence that governs it (Adhidaiva). V3-4 will define each precisely.
- V1 is a direct continuation of Ch.7 V29-30 — the two chapters are one unbroken conversation. Reading Ch.8 V1 without Ch.7 V29-30 misses the context. The 700-verse Gita is one integrated teaching, not 18 independent essays.
V1 is the structural hinge between Ch.7 and Ch.8. Ch.7 closed with two transitional verses (V29-30) that introduced six technical terms and the supreme teaching of prayāṇa-kāle knowing (recognition at death). V1 picks up those exact terms and asks for definitions — making Ch.8 a systematic elaboration of Ch.7's closing. The five terms of V1 represent a complete map of reality: Brahman (the Absolute ground), Adhyātma (the Self as individual manifestation of Brahman), Karma (the dynamic action that sustains creation), Adhibhūta (the physical/material cosmic domain), Adhidaiva (the divine/subtle cosmic domain). Together with V2's Adhiyajña (the sacrificial/worship domain), they cover all six dimensions of cosmic existence that a complete spirituality must account for. The speaker is Arjuna — the only verse in Ch.8 where Arjuna speaks (V1-2 together are his sole contribution). The rest of Ch.8 is entirely Krishna's answer. This structure (two-verse question → 26-verse answer) shows the asymmetry of the teaching relationship: precise questions open vast territories of instruction.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya: the six terms Arjuna asks about represent the full range of Vedantic inquiry — from Brahman (the absolute) to the conditioned individual (Adhyātma) to action and its role in the world. Krishna's answers in V3-4 show how all six ultimately reduce to the one: Brahman is the Imperishable ground; all other terms are its expressions at different levels.
Bhakti lens
For bhakti traditions, V1's 'O Puruṣottama' (Highest Person) is significant — Arjuna addresses Krishna with the title that affirms the Beloved's supreme nature. The inquiry begins with an affirmation of who is being asked. The devotee's question is itself an act of devotion: addressing the Supreme Person and asking to understand the structure of reality through His teaching.
Karma-Yoga lens
V1's question about Karma (kiṃ karma) specifically asks about the technical term from Ch.7 V29 — karma akhilam (Karma in its entirety). This is not the general question 'what is action?' but the specific question about the cosmic role of karma in the creation and sustenance of beings. Krishna's answer in V3 (karma = the offering/emanation that causes genesis and support) points to karma as cosmologically foundational, not just ethically relevant.
Modern parallels
V1's five questions correspond to five levels of philosophical inquiry: metaphysics (Brahman — what is ultimate reality?), ontology of the self (Adhyātma — what is the individual self?), ethics of action (Karma — what is action's role?), cosmology of matter (Adhibhūta — what is the physical world?), cosmology of mind/deity (Adhidaiva — what is the divine order?). V1 is a complete philosophical research agenda in one verse.
Practice
V1 inquiry meditation: sit quietly and ask each of V1's questions as an open inquiry directed inward, not outward. 'What is Brahman — not the word, but the reality it points to?' Let the question open a space of silence rather than triggering conceptual answers. Arjuna's question, practiced as meditation, becomes a direct inquiry into reality.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
(missing — Swarupananda's indexed text begins at V2 for Ch.8; V1 is Arjuna's first question) [4]
What is that Brahman, what is Adhyātma, what is Karma, O Puruṣottama? What is declared to be Adhibhūta, and Adhidaiva, what is called? [5]
What is that Brahman, what is Adhyatma, and what, O best of men! is Karma? What also is Adhibhuta, and what Adhidaivata? [6]
Who is that BRAHMA? What that Soul of Souls, The ADHYATMAN? What, Thou Best of All! Thy work, the KARMA? Tell me what it is Thou namest ADHIBHUTA? What again Means ADHIDAIVA? [7]
What is that Brahman, what the Adhyatma, and what, O best of beings! is action? And what is called the Adhibhuta? And who is the Adhidaiva? [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Taking refuge in Me for liberation from old age and death — they know Brahman, Adhyātma, and all of Karma.
Those who know Me as Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña — they know Me even at death, with unified minds.
Brahman is the Imperishable; Adhyātma is its presence in each body; Karma is the cosmic offering sustaining all beings.
Arjuna sees his own people ready to die — and his body breaks before his mind can argue.
Your body changed from childhood to age without 'you' dying — changing bodies is no different.
Unborn. Undying. Ancient. Eternal. Not slain when the body is slain — this is what you are.