Bhagavad Gita 8.15: meaning and translation
Chapter 8: Akshara Brahma Yoga. Krishna says
Krishna says that the great souls (mahātmās) who have come to him and reached the highest perfection are not born again into this passing world, which he calls a home of sorrow.
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Bhagavad Gita 8.15
मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् ।नाप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः ॥
Mamupetya punarjanma duhkhalayamashashvatamNapnuvanti mahatmanah sansiddhim paramam gatah
māmupetya punarjanma duḥkhālayamaśāśvatam |nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṃsiddhiṃ paramāṃ gatāḥ ||
Our explanation Krishna says that the great souls (mahātmās) who have come to him and reached the highest perfection are not born again into this passing world, which he calls a home of sorrow.
हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि जो महात्मा उन्हें प्राप्त होकर परम सिद्धि पा चुके हैं, वे फिर इस अनित्य संसार में जन्म नहीं लेते, जिसे वे दुःखों का घर कहते हैं।
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- माम् mām · "me" (Krishna) (pronoun, accusative singular) Dictionary: 1. mad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 777, col. 2 “base of the first pers. pron. in the sg. number (esp. in comp.)”
- उपेत्य upetya · having come to (absolutive ('having done')) Dictionary: 1. upe, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 215, col. 2 “to come near to, reach, obtain”
- पुनर्जन्म punarjanma · birth again (compound, accusative singular) Dictionary: punar-janman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 633, col. 3 “re-birth, metempsychosis”
- दुःखालयम् duḥkhālayam · a home of sorrow (compound, accusative singular) Dictionary: 1. duḥkha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 483, col. 2 “uneasiness, pain, sorrow, trouble, difficulty”; ā-laya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 154, col. 1 “a house, dwelling”
- अशाश्वतम् aśāśvatam · not lasting (accusative singular) Dictionary: a-śāśvata, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 113, col. 1 “not permanent or eternal, transient”
- न na · not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 “not, no, nor, neither”
- आप्नुवन्ति āpnuvanti · meet, attain (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 1. āp, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 142, col. 1 “to reach, overtake, meet with, fall upon”
- महात्मानः mahātmānaḥ · the great souls (compound, nominative plural) Dictionary: mahātman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 796, col. 1 “‘high-souled,’ magnanimous”
- संसिद्धिम् saṃsiddhim · perfection (accusative singular (feminine)) Dictionary: saṃ-siddhi, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1119, col. 2 “complete accomplishment or fulfilment, perfection, success”
- परमाम् paramām · highest (accusative singular (feminine)) Dictionary: parama, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 588, col. 1 “chief, highest, primary, most prominent or conspicuous”
- गताः gatāḥ · having reached (past participle, nominative plural) Dictionary: gata, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 347, col. 1 “gone to any state or condition”
Old translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 79.
The high-souled ones, who achieve the highest perfection, attaining to me, do not again come to life, which is transient, a home of woes1.
Footnotes (the translator’s own) - See infra, p. 86; and cf. Sutta Nipâta, p. 125. ↩
Compare 3 translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 79.
The high-souled ones, who achieve the highest perfection, attaining to me, do not again come to life, which is transient, a home of woes1.
Footnotes (the translator’s own) - See infra, p. 86; and cf. Sutta Nipâta, p. 125. ↩
You are reading this one
Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 84.
Having come to Me, these Mahâtmâs come not again to birth, the place of pain, non-eternal; they go to the highest bliss.
You are reading this one
Swami Swarupananda, 1909 (first printed 1907). Public domain. Page 166.
Reaching the highest perfection, and having attained Me, the great-souled ones, are no more subject to re-birth—the home of pain and ephemeral.
You are reading this one
Cite this verse
The translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 79. Bhagavad Gita 8.15.
The translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 84. Bhagavad Gita 8.15.
The translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 166. Bhagavad Gita 8.15.
Our explanation: “Bhagavad Gita 8.15: meaning and translation.” Pujadeep. Updated October 27, 2026. https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/8/15/
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Bhagavad Gita 8.15
मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् ।
नाप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः ॥
“The high-souled ones, who achieve the highest perfection, attaining to me, do not again come to life, which is transient, a home of woes.”
(K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 79, public domain)
“Having come to Me, these Mahâtmâs come not again to birth, the place of pain, non-eternal; they go to the highest bliss.”
(Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 84, public domain)
“Reaching the highest perfection, and having attained Me, the great-souled ones, are no more subject to re-birth—the home of pain and ephemeral.”
(Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 166, public domain)
Sanskrit: G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922.
https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/8/15/ Nothing is sent from this site. Your own app sends it, to the chat you choose. The picture quotes the translation you chose on this page, with its name and year.
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. Source and changes
Questions families ask
Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 8.15?
Krishna speaks this verse, in chapter 8 (Akshara Brahma Yoga).
Where does the Sanskrit text come from?
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. See the source
Is the meaning on this page a translation?
Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Source and licence
- Sanskrit text
- The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.
- Translation
- The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Common wording
- In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
- Our explanation
- Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the cited edition, October 27, 2026.