12.3

Sanskrit

ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते । सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं च कूटस्थमचलं ध्रुवम् ॥

ye tv akṣaram anirdeśyam avyaktaṃ paryupāsate sarvatragam acintyaṃ ca kūṭastham acalaṃ dhruvam

Translation

They who worship the Indestructible, the Ineffable, the unmanifested, Omnipresent, and Unthinkable, the Unchanging, Immutable, Eternal,

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

Verses 3-4 describe the second path named in Arjuna’s question — the akṣara, the unmanifest absolute already discussed in Chapter 8’s account of Brahman. The description is a stack of negatives and near-negatives (indestructible, ineffable, unmanifest, unthinkable) rather than any positive attribute, consistent with how the Gita treats the formless absolute wherever it appears.