Arjuna Uvaacha:
Kim tadbrahma kim adhyaatmam kim karma
purushottama;
Adhibhootam cha kim proktam adhidaivam
kimuchyate.(1)
Arjuna said:
What is that Brahman? What is
Adhyatma? What is action, O best among men? What is declared to be Adhibhuta?
And what is Adhidaiva said to be?
Adhiyajnah katham ko’tra dehe’smin
madhusoodana;
Prayaanakaale cha katham jneyo’si
niyataatmabhih.(2)
Who and how is Adhiyajna here in this body, O
destroyer of Madhu (Krishna)? And how, at the time of death, art Thou to be
known by the self-controlled one?
Aksharam brahma paramam
swabhaavo’dhyaatmamuchyate;
Bhootabhaavodbhavakaro visargah
karmasamjnitah.(3)
The Blessed Lord said:
Brahman is the Imperishable, the Supreme; His
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.
Adhibhootam ksharo bhaavah
purushashchaadhidaivatam;
Adhiyajno’hamevaatra dehe dehabhritaam
vara.(4)
Adhibhuta (knowledge of the elements) pertains
to My perishable Nature, and the Purusha or soul is the Adhidaiva; I alone am
the Adhiyajna here in this body, O best among the embodied (men)!
Antakaale cha maameva smaran muktwaa
kalevaram;
Yah prayaati sa madbhaavam yaati naastyatra
samshayah.(5)
And whosoever, leaving the body,
goes forth remembering Me alone at the time of death, he attains My Being;
there is no doubt about this.
Yam yam vaapi smaran bhaavam tyajatyante
kalevaram;
Tam tamevaiti kaunteya sadaa
tadbhaavabhaavitah.(6)
Whosoever at the end leaves the body, thinking
of any being, to that being only does he go, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), because
of his constant thought of that being!
Tasmaat sarveshu kaaleshu maamanusmara
yudhya cha;
Mayyarpitamanobuddhir
maamevaishyasyasamshayam.(7)
Therefore, at all times remember
Me only and fight. With mind and intellect fixed (or absorbed) in Me, thou
shalt doubtless come to Me alone.
Abhyaasayogayuktena chetasaa
naanyagaaminaa;
Paramam purusham divyam yaati
paarthaanuchintayan.(8)
With the mind not moving towards
any other thing, made steadfast by the method of habitual meditation, and
constantly meditating, one goes to the Supreme Person, the Resplendent, O
Arjuna!
Kavim puraanamanushaasitaaram
Anoraneeyaamsam anusmaredyah;
Sarvasya dhaataaram achintyaroopam
Aadityavarnam tamasah parastaat.(9)
Whosoever meditates on the
Omniscient, the Ancient, the ruler (of the whole world), minuter than an atom,
the supporter of all, of inconceivable form, effulgent like the sun and beyond the
darkness of ignorance,
Prayaanakaale manasaachalena
Bhaktyaa yukto yogabalena chaiva;
Bhruvormadhye praanamaaveshya samyak
Sa tam param purusham upaiti divyam.(10)
At the time of death, with
unshaken mind, endowed with devotion and by the power of Yoga, fixing the whole
life-breath in the middle of the two eyebrows, he reaches that resplendent Supreme
Person.
Yadaksharam vedavido vadanti
Vishanti yadyatayo veetaraagaah;
Yadicchanto brahmacharyam charanti
Tatte padam samgrahena pravakshye.(11)
That which is declared
imperishable by those who know the Vedas, that which the self-controlled
(ascetics) and passion-free enter, that desiring which celibacy is practised—that
goal I will declare to thee in brief.
Sarvadwaaraani samyamya mano hridi nirudhya
cha;
Moordhnyaadhaayaatmanah praanamaasthito
yogadhaaranaam.(12)
Having closed all the gates, confined the mind
in the heart and fixed the life-breath in the head, engaged in the practice of
concentration,
Omityekaaksharam brahma vyaaharan
maamanusmaran;
Yah prayaati tyajan deham sa yaati paramaam
gatim(13)
Uttering the monosyllable Om—the
Brahman—remembering Me always, he who departs thus, leaving the body, attains
to the supreme goal.
Ananyachetaah satatam yo maam smarati
nityashah;
Tasyaaham sulabhah paartha nityayuktasya
yoginah.(14)
I am easily attainable by that
ever-steadfast Yogi who constantly and daily remembers
Me (for a long time), not
thinking of anything else (with a single or one-pointed mind), O Partha (Arjuna)!
Maamupetya punarjanma
duhkhaalayamashaashwatam;
Naapnuvanti mahaatmaanah samsiddhim
paramaam gataah.(15)
Having attained Me these great
souls do not again take birth (here), which is the place of pain and is
non-eternal; they have reached the highest perfection (liberation).
Aabrahmabhuvanaallokaah
punaraavartino’rjuna;
Maamupetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na
vidyate.(16)
(All) the worlds, including the
world of Brahma, are subject to return again, O Arjuna!
But he who reaches Me, O son of
Kunti, has no rebirth!
Sahasrayugaparyantam aharyad brahmano
viduh;
Raatrim yugasahasraantaam te’horaatravido
janaah.(17)
Those who know the day of
Brahma, which is of a duration of a thousand Yugas (ages), and the night, which
is also of a thousand Yugas’ duration, they know day and night.
Avyaktaadvyaktayah sarvaah
prabhavantyaharaagame;
Raatryaagame praleeyante
tatraivaavyaktasamjnake.(18)
From the unmanifested all the manifested
(worlds) proceed at the coming of the “day”; at the coming of the “night” they
dissolve verily into that alone which is called the unmanifested.
Bhootagraamah sa evaayam bhootwaa bhootwaa
praleeyate;
Raatryaagame’vashah paartha prabhavatyaharaagame.(19)
This same multitude of beings, born again and
again, is dissolved, helplessly, O Arjuna, (into the unmanifested) at the
coming of the night, and comes forth at the coming of the day!
Parastasmaat tu
bhaavo’nyo’vyakto’vyaktaatsanaatanah;
Yah sa sarveshu bhooteshu nashyatsu na
vinashyati.(20)
But verily there exists, higher
than the unmanifested, another unmanifested Eternal who is not destroyed when
all beings are destroyed.
Avyakto’kshara ityuktastamaahuh paramaam
gatim;
Yam praapya na nivartante taddhaama paramam
mama.(21)
What is called the Unmanifested and the Imperishable
that they say is the highest goal (path). They who reach It do not return (to
this cycle of births and deaths). That is My highest abode (place or state).
Purushah sa parah paartha bhaktyaa
labhyastwananyayaa;
Yasyaantahsthaani bhootaani yena sarvamidam
tatam.(22)
That highest Purusha, O Arjuna, is attainable
by unswerving devotion to Him alone within whom all beings dwell and by whom
all this is pervaded.
Yatra kaale twanaavrittim aavrittim chaiva
yoginah;
Prayaataa yaanti tam kaalam vakshyaami
bharatarshabha.(23)
Now I will tell thee, O chief of the Bharatas,
the times departing at which the Yogis will return or not return!
Agnijyotirahah shuklah shanmaasaa
uttaraayanam;
Tatra prayaataa gacchanti brahma brahmavido
janaah.(24)
Fire, light, daytime, the bright
fortnight, the six months of the northern path of the sun (northern
solstice)—departing then (by these), men who know Brahman go to Brahman.
Dhoomo raatristathaa krishnah shanmaasaa
dakshinaayanam;
Tatra chaandramasam jyotir yogee praapya
nivartate.(25)
Attaining to the lunar light by smoke,
night-time, the dark fortnight or the six months of the southern path of the sun
(the southern solstice) , the Yogi returns.
Shuklakrishne gatee hyete jagatah
shaashwate mate;
Ekayaa yaatyanaavrittim anyayaa’vartate
punah.(26)
The bright and the dark paths of the world are
verily thought to be eternal; by the one
(The bright path) a person goes
not to return again, and by the other (the dark path) he returns.
Naite sritee paartha jaanan yogee muhyati
kashchana;
Tasmaat sarveshu kaaleshu yogayukto
bhavaarjuna.(27)
Knowing these paths, O Arjuna, no Yogi is
deluded! Therefore,
at all times be steadfast in Yoga.
Vedeshu yajneshu tapahsu chaiva
Daaneshu yat punyaphalam pradishtam.
Atyeti tatsarvam idam viditwaa
Yogee param sthaanamupaiti chaadyam.(28)
Whatever fruits or merits is declared (in the
scriptures) to accrue from (the study of) the Vedas, (the performance of)
sacrifices, (the practice of) austerities, and (the offering of) giftsbeyond
all these goes the Yogi, having known this; and he attains to the supreme
primeval (first or ancient) Abode.
Hari Om Tat Sat
Iti Srimad Bhagavadgeetaasoopanishatsu
Brahmavidyaayaam
Yogashaastre Sri Krishnaarjunasamvaade
Aksharabrahmayogo Naama Ashtamo’dhyaayah
Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the
science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna
and Arjuna, ends the eighth discourse entitled:
Lord Krishna explains how those
who attain Him do not have to come again into this impermanent world of sorrow
and pain. All beings, including even the gods, come again and again into this
created universe from the state of un manifest being wherein they remained at
the end of an Age-cycle. But the Lord exists even beyond this un manifest
being. That radiant, imperishable
Divine Reality is the highest
goal to be attained. Single-minded devotion of our heart is the means of attaining
this highest blessed state. Even though there are auspicious and inauspicious
circumstances of departing from the physical body and journeying forth, yet if
one steadily abides in the Lord through firm devotion and faith, then these
conditions do not matter. By always remaining in tune with the Lord through
pure love, everything is made auspicious, if one can ever remain united with
the Divine through deep devotion, constant remembrance, regular meditation and
continuous communion, then all times, places, conditions and situations become
auspicious and blessed. This is the secret of invoking His Grace and attaining
Him and becoming eternally free and blissful.
Arjuna here asks Lord Krishna
about the meaning of the different terms referred to by Him in the last two
verses of the previous chapter. He wishes to know what the Supreme Being is,
what is Karma or action that He refers to, and what is the meaning that pertains
to this spirit, the elements and the centre of all things within this human
body. Beyond all things manifest and un manifest, beyond these names and forms,
there is the Supreme Being—Brahman. He indwells this body as the centre of all
things, including even our own self (individual soul). We are a spiritual being
residing in this body and supported by the Silent Witness within—the Supreme
Antaryamin. Prakriti or Nature is the being pertaining to the elements.
Worship, prayer and offering to the gods with faith and devotion constitute
actions that lead to blessedness.
The secret of reaching the
Divine Being and thus freeing oneself forever from birth and death and the
pains and sufferings of this earth-life, is to constantly practise unbroken
remembrance of the Lord at all times, in all places and even amidst one’s daily
activities. If one practises such steady remembrance through regular daily
Sadhana, then he will be rooted in His remembrance even at the time of
departing from this body at death. Thus departing, he will go beyond darkness and
bondage and attain the realm of eternal blessedness. One must practise
sense-control. The senses must be well disciplined and gradually withdrawn from
outside objects. The mind should be centred within upon God, by uttering Om or any
Divine Name. By such steady practice daily the Lord is easily attained.
