Main Points of the Discourse:
- Arjuna’s question and the lord’s answer. (1-8)
- The practice of Pranava and its wonderful effects. (9-16)
- Explanation of creation and dissolution. (17-19)
- The universal form of the Lord and how the devotee attains it. (20-22)
- The paths of the dark and light – fortnights of the moon. (23-26)
- The power of the Yogi (27-28)
Verses 1 to 28
- Arjun said: O Supreme Lord, what is Brahman (Absolute Reality), what is adhyātma (the individual soul), and what is karma? What is said to be adhibhūta, and who is said to be Adhidaiva? Who is Adhiyajña in the body and how is He the Adhiyajña? O Krishna, how are You to be known at the time of death by those of steadfast mind? (8.1-8.2)
- The Lord said: Brahman is supreme, imperishable. Its essential nature is called Adhyatma (Self-knowledge); the act of sacrifice that causes the birth of beings is named karma (action). (8.3)
- O best of the embodied souls, the physical manifestation that is constantly changing is called adhibhūta; the universal form of God, which presides over the celestial gods in this creation, is called adhidaiva; I, who dwell in the heart of every living being, am called Adhiyajña, or the Lord of all sacrifices. (8.4)
- Those who relinquish the body while remembering Me at the moment of death will come to Me. There is certainly no doubt about this. (8.5)
- For whatever object a man thinks of at the final moment, when he leaves his body— that alone does he attain, Ο son of Kunti, being ever absorbed in the thought thereof. (8.6)
- Therefore, at all times, constantly remember Me and fight. With your mind and intellect absorbed in Me, you will surely come to Me. (8.7)
- With practice, O Parth, when you constantly engage the mind in remembering Me, the Supreme Divine Personality, without deviating, you will certainly attain Me. (8.8)
- Who, at the time of leaving the body, by the power of yogic practice, fixes the vital breath in the centre of the brows, and thinks continuously of the Omniscient, the Ancient, the controller of all the worlds, subtler than atom, supporter of all, of inconceivable form, self illumined like the sun, beyond darkness – he attains the self-illumined Paramatma. (8.9-8.10)
- I will now briefly describe to you that state which those who know the Vedas call the Imperishable, and into which enter the sannyāsis, self-controlled and freed from attachment, and in desire for which seekers lead the life of continence. (8.11)
- He who closes all the doors of the senses, confines the mind within the heart, draws the prāna into the head, and engages in the practice of yoga, uttering Om, the single syllable denoting Brahman, and meditates on Me— he who so departs, leaving the body, attains the Supreme Goal. (8.12-8.13)
- O Parth, for those yogis who always think of Me with exclusive devotion, I am easily attainable because of their constant absorption in Me. (8.14)
- Having come to Me, these high-souled men are no more subject to rebirth, which is transitory and the abode of pain; for they have reached the highest perfection. (8.15)
- O Arjuna! All worlds up to Brahmaloka are subject to return; having attained me there is no re-birth. (8.16)
- Those people who know the length of the day of Brahma which ends in a thousand yugas and night which also ends in a thousand yugas, know day and night. (8.17)
- At the approach of the day all manifest objects come forth from the unmanifested, and at the approach of the night they merge again into that which is called the unmanifested. (8.18)
- The same multitude of beings, coming forth again and again, merge, in spite of themselves, Ο Pārtha, at the approach of the night, and remanifest themselves at the approach of the day. (8.19)
- But beyond this unmanifested, there is yet another Unmanifested Eternal Being, who does not perish when all beings perish. (8.20)
- This Unmanifested is called the Imperishable; It is said to be the Ultimate Goal, from which those who reach It never come back. That is My Supreme Abode. (8.21)
- That Supreme Purusha, in whom all beings abide and by whom the entire universe is pervaded, can be attained, Ο Pārtha, by whole-souled devotion directed to Him alone. (8.22)
- Now I will tell you, Ο greatest of the Bhāratas, the time in which the yogis depart never to return, and also the time in which they depart to return. (8.23)
- Fire, light, day-time, the bright half of the moon, and the six months of the northward passage of the sun— taking this path, the knowers of Brahman go to Brahman. (8.24)
- Smoke, night, the dark half of the moon, and the six months of the southward passage of the sun— taking this path, the yogi reaches the lunar path and thence returns. (8.25)
- These two paths— the bright and the dark— are deemed to be the world’s eternal paths. Following the one, a man does not come back, and following the other, he is reborn. (8.26)
- No yogi who understands these two paths is ever deluded. Therefore, Ο Arjuna, at all times be steadfast in yoga. (8.27)
- The yogi who knows this transcends all the rewards laid down for the study of the Vedas, for sacrifices, for austerities, for making gifts: he reaches the Supreme, Primal Abode. (8.28)
Related Articles: