8.4

Sanskrit

अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम् । अधियज्ञोऽहमेवात्र देहे देहभृतां वर ॥

adhibhūtaṃ kṣaro bhāvaḥ puruṣaś cādhidaivatam adhiyajño'ham evātra dehe dehabhṛtāṃ vara

Translation

Knowledge of the Elements concerns My perishable nature, and knowledge of the Shining Ones concerns the life-giving energy; the knowledge of Sacrifice tells of Me, as wearing the body, O best of living beings.

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

Explanation

The remaining three terms close out in a single verse: adhibhuta is Krishna’s own perishable nature, adhidaiva is purusha, the life-force behind the shining ones, and adhiyajna — sacrifice itself — turns out to be Krishna as embodied here, in the body of every being. Six questions, six answers, in four verses; the discourse could have stopped there, but Arjuna’s seventh question, about death, is what Krishna actually wants to talk about.