Verse-16
Chapter 2 — Sānkhya Yog
Verse 16
🕉 Original Sanskrit Shloka
nasato vidyate bhavo nabhavo vidyate satah
ubhayorapi drsto ntastvana-yostattvadarsibhih
🕉 English Translation
📜 Translation
English
The unreal object has no power of existence and the Real object never goes out of existence. In this manner the Truth of both these has been seen by the seers of essential Truth.
The world is not real, whether you reflect on this issue or not. But the state of the world is absolutely clear. Whatever is changeable is unreal; and the world is continuously changing. But to assert that there is no existence of the unreal is a startling statement. Whatever was not, will not remain. That on which one cannot rely for a moment and be sure that when it exists, it will cease also. What kind of a reality is it? Wealth is lost, the house is lost, the body and relatives are no more there, reputation has been suddenly lost. Therefore, the Gita says nasato vidyate bhavo (the unreal has no existence).
The world has been described by the seers of essential truth as an illusion or existing apparently. Because they saw and comprehended the reality in their meditative phase! The unreal cannot come into being and the real never loses its existence. The creation owes its origin to the Lord. When the creation was not there, the Supreme was there; when the creation will be no more there, the Supreme will still be there. Gold ornaments as they are made out of gold are said to be a form of gold; they cannot be separated from gold. The unreal has no existence and the real can never go out of existence. For earnest seekers desiring spiritual upliftment this inspiration from the Gita requires serious deliberation!