पुरुष: स पर: पार्थ भक्त्या लभ्यस्त्वनन्यया |
यस्यान्त:स्थानि भूतानि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् || 22||
puruṣhaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyas tvananyayā
yasyāntaḥ-sthāni bhūtāni yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
puruṣhaḥ—the Supreme Divine Personality; saḥ—he; paraḥ—greatest; pārtha—Arjun, the son of Pritha; bhaktyā—through devotion; labhyaḥ—is attainable; tu—indeed; ananyayā—without another; yasya—of whom; antaḥ-sthāni—situated within; bhūtāni—beings; yena—by whom; sarvam—all; idam—this; tatam—is pervaded
Translation:
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.
Commentary:
That which is to be attained and the way to attain it are both explained here. Where does the world with all the crores of beings reside? What sustains it? These questions are answered here. On Paramatma – as the snake is super-imposed on the rope – the whole universe with all the worlds in it is created as a wonderful illusion. As the rope is the basis, Paramatma is the basis, the foundation, the reality of all this illusion. Where is the dream world? It is in man and nowhere else. So also, all this world is in Paramatma. Like the cream, in milk, Paramatma pervades the whole of creation.
Unswerving devotion to the Lord is the only way to attain Him. Intense devotion and one-pointed concentration are essential for Realisation. Dispassion, vairagya, towards the whole of the objective universe, and faith in the Lord as the only refuge-this is intense (ananya) bhakti. The perfect does not think of anything else. He attaches no value to the enjoyments, pains, and sufferings of life. He finds that there is only one Reality and in that he takes refuge. Such bhakti leads to the Lord.
It is to be noted that the Lord emphasises devotion (bhakti) in every Discourse, whatever may be the yoga taught in it. This shows that devotion is the common ingredient in every type of yoga. All yogas have for their life-element devotion to the Lord.
The Lord is Parama Purusha. The Jiva attains that state by devotion, knowledge, and dispassion. That is the aim of human life.
Question: On whom is the world based and by whom is it pervaded?
Answer: Paramatma.
Question: How can he be attained?
Answer: By single-minded devotion.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 8 🔻 (28 Verses)
