Chapter 13, Verse 13
Part of 13: Kṣhetra Kṣhetrajña Vibhāg Yog — क्षेत्र-क्षेत्रज्ञविभागयोगज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वाऽमृतमश्नुते।अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते॥
jñeyaṁ yat tat pravakṣhyāmi yaj jñātvāmṛitam aśhnute anādi mat-paraṁ brahma na sat tan nāsad uchyate
I will declare that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality; the beginningless Supreme Brahman, which is neither being nor non-being.
The Lord praises that which ought to be known (Para Brahman) in order to create in Arjuna (or any hearer) an intense desire to know It. Brahman cannot be expressed in words like being or nonbeing, because Brahman does not belong to any class or genus like a Brahmana, cow or horse. It has no ality like whiteness, blackness, etc. It has no relation or connection with anything else, because It is one without a second. It is no object of any sense. It is beyond the reach of the mind and the senses. It is actionless. It is the great transcendental and unmanifested Absolute. It is always the witnessing subject in all objects. The Vedas emphatically declare that Brahman is without attributes, activity, attachment or parts. In chapter IX. 19 it was stated that He is the being and also the nonbeing. It is now stated that He is neither being nor nonbeing. This would seem to the readers to be a contradiction in terms but it is not so. Though the manifest (perishable) and the unmanifest (imperishable) universe are both forms of Brahman? He is beyond both these. (Cf. VII.2XV.16?17and18)