Chapter 8
Akṣara-brahma-yoga
The Eternal Abode
Arjuna said: What is that Brahman? What is adhyātma? What is meant by karma? What is meant by adhibhūta? And what is said to be adhidaiva, O best of men?
arjuna uvāca kiṁ tad brahma kim adhyātmaṁ kiṁ karma puruṣottama | adhibhūtaṁ ca kiṁ proktam adhidaivaṁ kim ucyate || 1 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Who is the adhiyajña and how does He exist here in this body, O Madhusūdana? And how are You to be known at the time of death by the self-controlled?
adhiyajñaḥ kathaṁ ko ’tra dehe ’smin madhusūdana | prayāṇa-kāle ca kathaṁ jñeyo ’si niyatātmabhiḥ || 2 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: Brahman is the Supreme Imperishable, adhyātma is said to be that which possesses individual existence, and the cosmic emanation which gives rise to material beings is known as karma.
śrī-bhagavān uvāca akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ svabhāvo ’dhyātmam ucyate | bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo visargaḥ karma-saṁjñitaḥ || 3 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
O best of embodied beings, adhibhūta refers to the perishable material existence, the adhidaivata is the cosmic governing deity, and it is I who is the adhiyajña present in the body.
adhibhūtaṁ kṣaro bhāvaḥ puruṣaś cādhidaivatam | adhiyajño ’ham evātra dehe deha-bhṛtāṁ vara || 4 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
And the one who, at the time of death remembers Me alone, reaches My state of being after giving up the body. In this regard, there is no doubt.
anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram | yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ || 5 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
O son of Kuntī, whatever state of being one remembers at the time of death while leaving the body, that very state one attains thereafter, having always been absorbed in it.
yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram | taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ || 6 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Therefore, always remember Me and fight. With your mind and intellect fixed in Me, without doubt you will certainly attain Me.
tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca | mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mām evaiṣyasy asaṁśayaḥ || 7 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
O Pārtha! Constantly being aware of the divine Supreme Lord by engaging in repeated practice of yoga with a mind that doesn’t wander anywhere else, one attains Him.
abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā | paramaṁ puruṣaṁ divyaṁ yāti pārthānucintayan || 8 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
One who is absorbed in devotion and at the time of death meditates with an unwavering mind on the most ancient One, the all-knowing supreme controller whose form is inconceivable, the One who is more subtle than an atom, the maintainer of all, who is beyond darkness and brilliant like the Sun, while firmly keeping the prāṇa between the eyebrows by the power of yoga, such a person attains the Divine Supreme Being. (8.9/10) I shall now tell you about that goal which the knowers of the Vedas call the Imperishable, which ascetics who are free from desire attain, and desiring which, they practice celibacy.
kaviṁ purāṇam anuśāsitāram aṇor aṇīyāṁsam anusmared yaḥ sarvasya dhātāram acintya-rūpam āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt prayāṇa-kāle manasācalena | bhaktyā yukto yoga-balena caiva bhruvor madhye prāṇam āveśya samyak sa taṁ paraṁ puruṣam upaiti divyam || 11 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Having controlled all the gates of the body, withdrawing the mind into the heart and placing the prāṇa within the head, fixed in yogic concentration, chanting the sacred syllable oṁ which embodies the Absolute and thinking of Me intensely, one who abandons the body and leaves the world in this way, reaches the supreme goal.
sarva-dvārāṇi saṁyamya mano hṛdi nirudhya ca | mūrdhny ādhāyātmanaḥ prāṇam āsthito yoga-dhāraṇām || 12 || oṁ ity ekākṣaraṁ brahma vyāharan mām anusmaran | yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ sa yāti paramāṁ gatim || 13 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
O Pārtha, for the ever-united yogī who is always single-minded and continuously remembers Me, I am easily attainable.
ananya-cetāḥ satataṁ yo māṁ smarati nityaśaḥ | tasyāhaṁ sulabhaḥ pārtha nitya-yuktasya yoginaḥ || 14 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Upon attaining Me, the great ones do not again take a transient birth, which is the abode of suffering, since they have reached the highest perfection.
mām upetya punar janma duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam | nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ || 15 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
O Arjuna, all realms up to the world of Brahmā are subject to rebirth. But after attaining Me, there is no further rebirth, O son of Kuntī.
ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna | mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate || 16 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Those who understand that a Day of Brahmā lasts for a thousand mahā-yugas and a Night of Brahmā lasts for another thousand mahā-yugas, are the knowers of a cosmic Day and Night.
sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ | rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ te ’ho-rātra-vido janāḥ || 17 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
At the beginning of a Day of Brahmā all beings come forth from the unmanifest, and at the dawn of Brahmā’s Night, they are dissolved back into the state known as the unmanifest.
avyaktād vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavanty ahar-āgame | rātry-āgame pralīyante tatraivāvyakta-saṁjñake || 18 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Having come into manifestation again and again, the same multitude of beings is helplessly withdrawn at the coming of the Night. At the dawn of the next Day, yet again they manifest, O Pārtha.
bhūta-grāmaḥ sa evāyaṁ bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate | rātry-āgame ’vaśaḥ pārtha prabhavaty ahar-āgame || 19 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
However, there is an eternal unmanifest existence which is different from and superior to this unmanifest state of prakṛti; it is not destroyed even when all material beings are annihilated.
paras tasmāt tu bhāvo ’nyo ’vyakto ’vyaktāt sanātanaḥ | yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu na vinaśyati || 20 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
This unmanifest realm, also called “The Imperishable,” is said to be the highest goal; it is My Supreme Abode, having attained which one does not return.
avyakto ’kṣara ity uktas tam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim | yaṁ prāpya na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama || 21 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
This Supreme Being within whom all beings exist and who pervades this entire universe, is however only attained by exclusive devotion, O Pārtha.
puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyas tv ananyayā | yasyāntaḥ-sthāni bhūtāni yena sarvam idaṁ tatam || 22 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
O best of the Bharatas, I will now describe to you the specific moments of leaving this world, during which yogīs either return to this world or don’t.
yatra kāle tv anāvṛttim āvṛttiṁ caiva yoginaḥ | prayātā yānti taṁ kālaṁ vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha || 23 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Those who have realized Brahman attain the Supreme, while leaving this world during the influence of Agni, the light, the day, the bright fortnight, or during the six months of the northern course of the Sun.
agnir jyotir ahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇ-māsā uttarāyaṇam | tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahma-vido janāḥ || 24 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
But the yogī who departs during the smoke, the night, the dark fortnight, or the six months of the southern course of the Sun, reaches the light of the Moon and then returns.
dhūmo rātris tathā kṛṣṇaḥ ṣaṇ-māsā dakṣiṇāyanam | tatra cāndramasaṁ jyotir yogī prāpya nivartate || 25 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
These two paths of the world, the light and the dark, are considered to be eternal. By following one of these paths, one does not come back, but by following the other, one returns.
śukla-kṛṣṇe gatī hy ete jagataḥ śāśvate mate | ekayā yāty anāvṛttim anyayāvartate punaḥ || 26 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Pārtha, the yogī who knows these two paths is never bewildered. Therefore, at all times be engaged in yoga, O Arjuna.
naite sṛtī pārtha jānan yogī muhyati kaścana | tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu yoga-yukto bhavārjuna || 27 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Whatever merits are gathered from the study of the Vedas, the performance of sacrifices, or the practice of austerities and charity, the yogī who knows this teaching of Mine crosses beyond all of it and reaches the original, Supreme Abode.
vedeṣu yajñeṣu tapaḥsu caiva dāneṣu yat puṇya-phalaṁ pradiṣṭam | atyeti tat sarvam idaṁ viditvā yogī paraṁ sthānam upaiti cādyam || 28 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Continue Exploring
Continue to the next chapter or move into chanting and reflection.