A core teaching · expansive in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“What changes is not the whole of you.”
In this world, there are two kinds of beings: the perishable and the imperishable. All embodied beings are perishable; the steadfast one is called imperishable.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallytwo · these · beings · in the world · perishable · and · imperishable · indeed · and · perishable · all · beings · steadfast · imperishable · is called
There are two kinds of existence here: what changes and what does not. Bodies pass away, but the unchanging reality within remains.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Purushottama Yoga" (The Yoga of the Supreme Person).
Verse 16 sits in Chapter 15 of the Bhagavad Gita — Purushottama Yoga, "The Yoga of the Supreme Person". The chapter has 20 verses in total.
You watch a loved one age in a hospital room and feel time stripping everything away. This verse reminds you that what changes is not the deepest reality of a person.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts the mind from identifying with the changing body to recognising the unchanging witness.
What this verse means
There are two kinds of existence here: what changes and what does not. Bodies pass away, but the unchanging reality within remains.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield, Arjuna is frozen between duty and grief. Krishna widens the frame beyond the war: all bodies are temporary, but the steady reality within them is not. This verse prepares Arjuna to act without mistaking the body for the whole person.
Why this verse still matters
You watch a loved one age in a hospital room and feel time stripping everything away. This verse reminds you that what changes is not the deepest reality of a person.
“You can stop clinging to what fades and rest in what does not.”
Explore related themes: akshara (12 verses)