Dukhalaya Asahvatam

“Dukhalaya Asashtvam is a Sanskrit phrase that appears in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 8, Verse 15), where Lord Krishna describes the nature of the material world.

Phrase Breakdown:

• Dukhalayam (दुःखालयम्):
  
• Dukha = sorrow, suffering
• Alaya = abode, residence
  → “The abode of sorrow” or “place full of suffering”
• 
  
• Ashashvatam (अशाश्वतम्):
  
• A = not
• Shashvatam = eternal, lasting
  → “Impermanent” or “temporary”
• 
  

Combined Meaning:

“Dukhalayam Ashashvatam” means

“This material world is a temporary place full of suffering.”

Context from Bhagavad Gita (8.15):

“After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.”

In Sanskrit:

mām upetya punar janma duḥkhālayam aśhāśhvatam

nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ sansiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ

Philosophical Meaning:

This phrase underscores a key teaching in Vedanta and especially Vaishnavism:

The material world (samsara) is not our true home—it is temporary and filled with suffering due to the nature of birth, death, disease, and old age. Only by attaining moksha (liberation) or Krishna’s abode (Vaikuntha) can one escape this cycle.

Would you like a deeper interpretation, or how this applies in daily life or spiritual practice?