Verso 8.38.18.28.38.48.58.68.78.88.98.108.118.128.138.148.158.168.178.188.198.208.218.228.238.248.258.268.278.28

The Blessed Lord said Brahman is the Imperishable, the Supreme; Its essential nature is called Self-knowledge; the offering (to the gods) which causes existence and manifestation of beings and which also sustains them is called action.

The Lord said: Brahman is the supreme Imperishable. Its own being is called the inner self. The creative outpouring that brings beings into existence is called action.

Krishna gives brief definitions. Brahman is the supreme akṣara, the Imperishable. Adhyātma is its own being as it dwells in each, the inner self or essential nature. Karma, action, is visarga, the creative outpouring that brings beings into existence. Commentators expand these compact phrases in different ways, and some read visarga as the ritual offering that sustains life. The verse treats action as cosmic creativity, a wider sense than the human deeds discussed in earlier chapters.