Lord Krishna

Divine Teacher

The Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.

Speaking: Chapter 2, Verse 12

Verse 12

Hard Verse

Sānkhya Yoga — The Yoga of Discernment

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.

Context & Meaning

Krishna explains that the soul is eternal; all beings have always existed and will continue to exist.

Scholar Commentaries

2 commentaries · Public domain

Adi Shankaracharya

Advaita Vedanta

This verse affirms the eternal nature of Brahman-Atman. "I" here refers not to the individual ego-self but to pure Consciousness, which never underwent birth, does not change, and shall never cease. The multiplicity of selves Krishna speaks of is from the conventional standpoint of diverse bodies.

Swami Vivekananda

Vedantic

The divine in each person has never been born and shall never die. This is the most fundamental teaching of the Gita: beneath the body and mind lies an eternal Self identical with the universal Brahman. To realize this is the goal of all spiritual practice.