Chapter 5 · Verse 2
निर्विकल्पं निराकारं निर्गुणं ब्रह्म केवलम्
nirvikalpaṃ nirākāraṃ nirguṇaṃ brahma kevalam
Three negations define Brahman: free from conceptual distinctions (nirvikalpa), formless (nirākāra), beyond all attributes (nirguṇa). These are not merely negative descriptions but precise philosophical terms. Nirvikalpa means beyond the mind’s capacity to divide and name; nirākāra means beyond all spatial determination; nirguṇa means beyond the three guṇas of Sāṃkhya that constitute all manifest reality. What remains is Brahma kevalam — Brahman alone, with nothing besides.