Cluster 0478 — BG-13.23 — *ya evam vetti puruṣam prakṛtim ca guṇaiḥ saha — sarvathā vartamāno'pi na sa bhūyo'bhijāyate*
BG-13.23
Sanskrit
य एवं वेत्ति पुरुषं प्रकृतिं च गुणैः सह । सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि न स भूयोऽभिजायते ॥२३॥
Translation
The-ONE-WHO THUS KNOWS the PURUṢA + PRAKṚTI + GUṆAS-together — THOUGH-ACTING-IN-EVERY-WAY — IS NOT BORN AGAIN.
Function
BG-13.23 is the climactic-promise of the BG-13.19-23 PRAKṚTI-PURUṢA-DISCRIMINATION block. The verse's pedagogical-architecture:
(i) FIRST hemistich — contents-of-the-knowing. PURUṢA + PRAKṚTI + GUṆAS-together — naming all 3 metaphysical-categories in a single grammatical-stroke. The guṇaiḥ saha instrumental-plural attributes the GUṆA-operations to the prakṛti-side, not to the puruṣa-witness.
(ii) SECOND hemistich — the iconic sarvathā vartamāno'pi na sa bhūyo'bhijāyate. THOUGH the knower ACTS-IN-EVERY-MODE, HE-IS-NOT-BORN-AGAIN. The sarvathā vartamāno'pi concessive-clause is the iconic Karma-Yoga-Jñāna-Yoga reconciliation in a single grammatical-formula: action-continues-after-knowing but does-not-bind.
The na sa bhūyo'bhijāyate is the chapter's climactic no-rebirth-promise — directly echoing BG-4.9's iconic janma karma ca me divyam... tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti.
Jñāneśvar's 7-ovi Treatment
Jñāneśvar's treatment (13.1030-13.1036) renders the verse in a precise 3-stage pedagogical-arc:
(i) 13.1030-13.1032 — DISCRIMINATING-KNOWING
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13.1030 — opens with the NIKHAḶA-PURELY discriminating-knowing: jō nikhaḷapaṇēm yēṇēm — puruṣā yayā jāṇē — āṇi guṇāmcēm karaṇēm — prakṛticēm tēm (the-ONE-WHO PURELY THUS KNOWS the PURUṢA — and the GUṆA-DOINGS are PRAKṚTI's). The NIKHAḶAPAṆĒṀ adverb foregrounds the CLEAN character of the discrimination; the explicit attribution of GUṆA-DOINGS to PRAKṚTI is the iconic Sānkhya-Yoga discrimination move.
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13.1031 — the iconic 2-pair discrimination-similes: hēm rūpa hē chāyā — pail jaḷa hē māyā — aisā nivāḍu dhanañjayā — jēvīm kījē (THIS-IS FORM, this-IS-SHADOW — THAT-IS WATER, this-IS-MIRAGE — such DISCRIMINATION DHANAÑJAYA — as is made). The JAḶA-MĀYĀ pair invokes the classical mṛga-tṛṣṇikā mirage-image.
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13.1032 — internalization as MANO-GŌCARA: tēṇēm pāḍēm arjunā — prakṛti-puruṣa-vivañcanā — jayāciyā manā — gōcara jāhalī (by THAT MEASURE ARJUNA — the PRAKṚTI-PURUṢA-DISCRIMINATION — to whose MIND — has become PERCEPTIBLE).
(ii) 13.1033-13.1034 — SARVATHĀ-VARTAMĀNAḤ-API + NA-BHŪYO-ABHIJĀYATE
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13.1033 — the iconic ĀKĀŚA-DHUĪ-NA-MAḶE elemental-simile: tō śarīrācēni mēḷēm — karūm kām karmēm sakaḷēm — parī ākāśa dhuī na maiḷē — taisā asē (HE WITH BODY's AGGREGATE — MAY DO ALL KARMAS — BUT the SKY is NOT SOILED BY DUST — such HE IS). The precise iconic Marathi rendering of sarvathā vartamāno'pi — paralleling BG 5.10's PADMA-PATRA-AMBHAS lotus-leaf-water simile.
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13.1034 — the precise 2-stage jīvan-mukti-videha-mukti distinction: āthilēni dēhēm — jō na ghēpē dēha-mōhēm — dēha gēliyā nōhē — punarapi tō (WITH BODY PRESENT — NOT TAKEN BY DEHA-MOHA — when BODY GOES — NOT AGAIN HE). The PUNARAPI precisely renders the Sanskrit BHŪYAḤ — the iconic chapter-climactic no-rebirth-formula.
(iii) 13.1035-13.1036 — ALAUKIKA-UPAKĀRA + VIVEKA-BHĀNŪ-RISES
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13.1035 — the ALAUKIKA-UPAKĀRA naming: aisā tayā ēku — prakṛti-puruṣa-vivēku — upakāru alaukiku — karī paim gā (such for HIM ONE — PRAKṚTI-PURUṢA-VIVEKA — does an UPAKĀRA — ALAUKIKA, indeed!). The discrimination is NOT merely intellectual cognition but confers a WORLD-TRANSCENDING benefit — the no-rebirth-promise itself is the ALAUKIKA-UPAKĀRA.
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13.1036 — the closing VIVEKA-BHĀNŪCIYĀ-PARĪ-UDAIJĒ + UPĀYA-BAHUTA bridge: parī hāci antarīm — vivēka bhānūciyā parī — udaijē tēm avadhārīm — upāya bahuta (BUT THIS in the INTERIOR — the VIVEKA LIKE the SUN — RISES — HEED — there are MANY UPĀYAS). The precise iconic Marathi cluster-bridging pedagogy explicitly anticipating BG-13.24's UPĀYA-CATALOG (dhyāna + sānkhya + karma-yoga).
Four precise Marathi elevations beyond the Sanskrit
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2-pair RŪPA-CHĀYĀ + JAḶA-MĀYĀ discrimination-similes (13.1031) — using the classical mṛga-tṛṣṇikā mirage-image; the discriminating-eye distinguishes the REAL from the derivative, just so the discriminating-knower distinguishes PURUṢA from PRAKṚTI.
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ĀKĀŚA-DHUĪ-NA-MAḶE elemental-simile (13.1033) — the precise iconic Marathi rendering of sarvathā vartamāno'pi: the SKY pervades dust-filled-spaces yet REMAINS UN-SOILED. The iconic Vedāntic Karma-Yoga-Jñāna-Yoga reconciliation in elemental-form, paralleling BG 5.10's PADMA-PATRA-AMBHAS lotus-leaf-water simile.
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Precise 2-stage jīvan-mukti-videha-mukti distinction (13.1034) — WITH-BODY = jīvan-mukti (not-taken-by-deha-moha) + AFTER-BODY = videha-mukti (NOHĒ-PUNARAPI, no-bhūyas). The iconic Vedāntic distinction in precise Marathi form, and the PUNARAPI precisely renders the Sanskrit BHŪYAḤ.
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VIVEKA-BHĀNŪCIYĀ-PARĪ-UDAIJĒ + UPĀYA-BAHUTA (13.1036) — the precise iconic Marathi cluster-bridging pedagogy. The VIVEKA RISES LIKE THE SUN in the antar via MANY UPĀYAS — explicitly anticipating BG-13.24's UPĀYA-CATALOG (dhyāna + sānkhya + karma-yoga). Among the most-precise cluster-bridges in adhyāya 13.
Arc-position
BG-13.23 closes the BG-13.19-23 PRAKṚTI-PURUṢA-DISCRIMINATION block with the iconic na sa bhūyo'bhijāyate no-rebirth-promise. Chapter argument: BG-13.1-2 KṢETRA-KṢETRAJÑA-VIBHĀGA → BG-13.3-6 KṢETRA-DEFINITION → BG-13.7-11 JÑĀNA-19-VIRTUE-CATALOG → BG-13.12-17 JÑEYA-DEFINITION → BG-13.18 TERMINAL-SUMMARY → BG-13.19-23 PRAKṚTI-PURUṢA-DISCRIMINATION (closing here) → BG-13.24-25 UPĀYA-CATALOG → BG-13.26-27 ADHYĀTMIK-VYAVAHĀRA-FORMULAS → BG-13.28-34 closing. Cluster 0478 contributes the climactic no-rebirth-promise + the iconic ĀKĀŚA-DHUĪ-NA-MAḶE elemental-simile + the precise 2-stage jīvan-mukti-videha-mukti distinction + the cluster-bridging VIVEKA-BHĀNŪ-RISES-VIA-MANY-UPĀYAS preparing for BG-13.24's catalog. Doctrinal-progression from 0477 (BG-13.22 5-fold puruṣa-naming): the WHO of the puruṣa (UPADRAṢṬĀ-ANUMANTĀ-BHARTĀ-BHOKTĀ-MAHEŚVARAḤ + PARAMĀTMĀ) → the PROMISE for the one-who-KNOWS-this-puruṣa (no-rebirth). The next cluster (0479) extends with BG-13.24's UPĀYA-CATALOG (DHYĀNA + SĀṄKHYA-YOGA + KARMA-YOGA) — explicitly anticipated by 13.1036's UPĀYA-BAHUTA closing.