अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहु: परमां गतिम् |
यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम || 21||
avyakto ’kṣhara ityuktas tam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim
yaṁ prāpya na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama
avyaktaḥ—unmanifest; akṣharaḥ—imperishable; iti—thus; uktaḥ—is said; tam—that; āhuḥ—is called; paramām—the supreme; gatim—destination; yam—which; prāpya—having reached; na—never; nivartante—come back; tat—that; dhāma—abode; paramam—the supreme; mama—My
Translation:
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.
Commentary:
All the Vedas and Sastras declare that Paramatma, the Imperishable, is the highest state. Reaching it man does not return to the perishable body. There is no samsara again for the sage who attains the highest goal. Having lived in the world, it becomes clear that everything is vanishing like a dream. The child of today is the old man of tomorrow. Pleasures turn into pains. Joys lead to sorrow. Life ends in death. The whole scheme of existence is only a troubled dream. Time passes and death takes away all. Knowing this fully from experience the wise man is not at all interested in this child’s play. He has no relish for these insipid things. He knows that the dream life is utterly unbecoming of him, who has the eternal Self as his real Being. So he aims high, aims at Truth, aims at the lion rather than catch a jackal. So the Lord’s inspiring call to mankind is to give up the foolish little self, and ascend to him, and be one with him.
Reaching him, there is no re-birth. Why should man wish to be born in the cage of flesh? Is it to taste the ditch – water of several worldly pleasures again? Why does he crave for such wretched things when he is really the immortal bliss and blessedness. The man of Self-realisation rejects the body as a dirty tattered robe. He does not wish to wear it again. Immortality, bliss and blessedness, he enjoys when he attains the highest abode of the Lord.
Question: What is the highest state?
Answer: The unmanifested, imperishable state of Paramatma.
Question: What happens when man attains it?
Answer: He attains immortality and is not reborn again.
Question: What is the nature of Paramatma?
Answer: He is imperishable, beyond the senses and the mind.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 8 🔻 (28 Verses)
