आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन | मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते ||१६||
ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino'rjuna | mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate || 16 ||
All worlds up to Brahma's realm are subject to return — but those who attain Me, O Arjuna, are not reborn.
Word by word (3)
- ā-brahma-bhuvanāt lokāḥ punar āvartinaḥ arjuna
- — All worlds up to Brahma's realm are subject to return, O Arjuna · ā = up to, all the way to (inclusive prefix — indicates the complete range from here to the uppermost). brahma-bhuvanāt = from/to Brahma's realm (brahma = Brahmā, the Creator deity; bhuvana = realm, world, abode; brahma-bhuvana = Brahma's world — the highest created realm, located at the top of the cosmic hierarchy; ā-brahma-bhuvanāt = 'up to and including Brahma's world' — the entire created cosmos, from here to the highest). lokāḥ = worlds (plural — all worlds, all realms). punar = again (repetition). āvartinaḥ = those who return (āvartin = one who turns back, one who returns to the cycle; from ā + √vṛt = to turn, to return — āvartana = turning back, return). arjuna = O Arjuna. The scope: every created realm (lokāḥ), from the lowest to Brahma's highest realm (ā-brahma-bhuvanāt), is included in the cycle of return (punar āvartina). Even the creator-god's realm, which in earlier Vedic thought represented the highest attainable goal, is subject to return. This sweeps away all intermediate goals as insufficient — only the attainment of Krishna escapes the cycle.
- mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate
- — But having attained Me, O Kaunteya, rebirth is not known (does not exist) · mām = Me (Krishna). upetya = having attained (upa + √i = to approach, come to — upetya = gerund, 'having come to'). tu = but (contrastive particle — creating the distinction between the previous 'all worlds return' and the following 'but Me...'). kaunteya = O Kaunteya (son of Kuntī — Arjuna; the maternal address softens the cosmic teaching, making it personal). punar janma = rebirth. na vidyate = is not known, does not exist (na = not; vidyate = it exists, it is found — na vidyate = is not found, does not exist). The tu (but) is the verse's most important word: it creates the decisive contrast between all created realms (which return) and Krishna's attainment (which does not return). V16 repeats V15's promise in sharper relief: not just 'the great-souled are not reborn' (V15's personal statement) but 'ALL worlds return — but My attainment is uniquely final' (V16's cosmic statement). The contrast makes V15's promise cosmically grounded: it is not an exception but the ONLY exception in an otherwise universal law of return.
- ā-brahma-bhuvanāt — why including Brahma's realm is significant
- — Brahmaloka (highest created realm) is explicitly included in the cycle of return — making it clear that no created attainment escapes rebirth · Brahmaloka (Brahma's realm) was in earlier Vedic thought considered the highest attainable goal — reaching Brahmā's realm was the fruit of the highest Vedic rites and sacrifices. The Chāndogya Upaniṣad 4.15.5-6 says those who know Brahman go to Brahman 'and do not return' — but this referred to Brahman (the Absolute), not Brahmā (the Creator). V16 makes the distinction explicit: Brahma's realm (brahma-bhuvana = the Creator's realm) IS included in the cycle of return. This is a decisive teaching: even the highest cosmological attainment short of the akṣara Brahman (V3) is subject to return. V17-V19 will explain WHY: Brahma himself is subject to the cosmic day-night cycle — his realm lasts for a cosmic night, then dissolves. Only the attainment of the akṣara beyond Brahmā is truly final (V15: no punar janma).
V16 restates V15's promise in its most sweeping cosmic form: every world (lokāḥ), from the lowest to the highest (including Brahma's realm — ā-brahma-bhuvanāt), is subject to return to the cycle of rebirth. But (tu — the most important word) those who attain Me (mām upetya) — no rebirth (na vidyate). V16 establishes the cosmic framework: even Brahma's realm is temporary. Only Krishna's attainment is permanently beyond the cycle.
A modern analogy
Even the highest-floor penthouse in the tallest skyscraper is still subject to the building's existence and eventual demolition. The only thing not subject to the building's cycle is whatever is beyond the building entirely. V16 says: all worlds — even the cosmic penthouse (Brahma's realm) — are subject to the building's cycle. Only stepping outside the building entirely (mām upetya — attaining Me) escapes it.
What it does NOT mean
V16's 'Brahma's realm' refers to Brahmā (the Creator deity), not Brahman (the Absolute). This is a crucial distinction: attaining Brahman (the Absolute = Krishna's nature = akṣara of V3) IS the liberation that escapes rebirth. V16 is saying that Brahmā's cosmological realm — however exalted — is still within the cycle. The Brahman beyond Brahmā is what V15 promised.
Take with you
- V16 provides the ultimate context for all spiritual aspiration: what is the highest goal that is truly final? V16 answers: not any realm, not even the highest cosmic realm, but the attainment of Krishna (the akṣara Brahman). This makes V14's ananya-cetāḥ practice and V13's OM + mām anusmaran the most practically important teachings — they lead to what V16 identifies as the only final destination.
- V16's cosmic sweep (all worlds return) is not designed to produce despair but precision of aspiration. The Gita does not deny the relative value of higher attainments (better realms, more virtuous rebirths, greater wisdom) — but V16 clarifies that none of these is the FINAL goal. Aim for V16's mām upetya.
- V16 provides the philosophical context for why V7's 'fight AND remember Me' is the Gita's central instruction: in a universe where ALL worlds return, the only action that leads to what does not return is the ananya-cetāḥ/nitya-yukta practice. V16 makes the practice instruction of V7 cosmically urgent.
V16 opens Ch.8's second major section (V16-V28) which shifts from the personal prayāṇa-kāle teaching (V5-V15) to the cosmic-scale teaching (Brahma's day-night cycle, the unmanifest, the two paths). V16 is the hinge verse: it closes the prayāṇa-kāle section by restating its conclusion (mām upetya → no rebirth) and simultaneously opens the cosmic section by establishing that even Brahma's realm is subject to return. The identification ā-brahma-bhuvanāt (all worlds up to Brahma's) is significant in the history of Indian religious thought. Earlier Vedic religion held Brahmaloka as the highest attainable goal. The Upaniṣads began the shift: Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3.3 says Gārgī's question was 'above the sky, below the earth, between the two, that which people call the past and present and future — on what is all that woven?' The answer was the akṣara (Imperishable) — clearly ABOVE even the cosmic order. V16 makes this explicit: Brahma's world is within the cosmic order; only the akṣara (V3) transcends it. The V16 teaching connects to the Brahma-kalpa (Brahma's lifetime) cosmology developed in V17-V19: Brahma lives for 100 divine years (each year = 360 days of 1,000 yugas each), and when Brahma dies, his world dissolves. V16's 'Brahma's realm returns' is explained by V17-V19's cosmic time teaching.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya: ā-brahma-bhuvanāt lokāḥ punar āvartinaḥ — all within saṃsāra (the cycle) is subject to return. Brahmā is a conditioned being (vyakti) within the cosmic order — even though he is the Creator. His realm is conditioned. Only the unconditioned (akṣara = nirguna Brahman) is beyond return. mām upetya = Brahman-recognition = mokṣa = the end of avidyā and therefore the end of the cycle.
Bhakti lens
For bhakti traditions, V16 elevates Krishna above Brahmā — the Creator deity. This is a significant theological claim: Krishna is not one deity among many but the Absolute beyond even the highest deity (Brahmā). The devotee who attains Krishna has attained what even Brahmā's realm cannot provide. This is the bhakti tradition's cosmic claim for the supremacy of Krishna-devotion.
Karma-Yoga lens
V16 provides the cosmic context for why karma yoga's fruit ('come to Me' through action-without-attachment) is the highest goal. The karma yogi who attains the 'I am the doer' dissolution and arrives at the recognition of Krishna-as-ground has attained what V16 promises — freedom from the cycle that includes even Brahma's realm.
Modern parallels
V16's cosmic-scale frame (all worlds return) parallels the modern cosmological understanding: every galaxy, every star system, every physical structure in the universe is subject to eventual dissolution (entropy). Even the most exalted physical configuration is temporary. V16 says this extends to cosmological realms (Brahma's world); only the akṣara beyond the physical-cosmological order is not subject to this universal return.
Practice
V16 contemplation: hold the image of the cosmos — galaxies, star systems, all worlds — all arising and dissolving. Then see Brahma's realm at the apex, also arising and dissolving. Then feel: 'What is not arising and dissolving? What is the akṣara — the ground that does not turn back?' Rest in the recognition of that ground. This is V16's meditative application.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
All the worlds, O Arjuna, including the realm of Brahma, are subject to return, but after attaining Me, O son of Kunti, there is no rebirth. [4]
Up to the realm of Brahma, all worlds are subject to return, O Arjuna; but he who reacheth me, O son of Kuntî, hath no rebirth. [5]
All the worlds, O Arjuna, even to the abode of Brahma, are subject to return. But after attaining me, O son of Kunti, there is no return. [6]
The worlds, Arjuna!--even Brahma's world-- Roll back again from Death to Life's unrest; But they, O Kunti's Son! that reach to Me, Taste birth no more. [7]
All worlds, O Arjuna! up to the world of Brahman, are (destined) to return. But, O son of Kunti! after attaining to me, there is no birth again. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The great-souled who reach the highest perfection and come to Me are not reborn in this home of pain and impermanence.
Those who know Brahma's Day as a thousand yugas and his Night as a thousand yugas — they know day and night truly.
At the end of each cosmic age, all beings return to My prakriti — at the next dawn, I send them forth again.
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
Brahman is the Imperishable; Adhyātma is its presence in each body; Karma is the cosmic offering sustaining all beings.
Before birth: unmanifest. After death: unmanifest. The life between is the brief visible part — what is there to grieve?