VIII
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 unmanifest being wherein they remained at the end
of an age-cycle. But the Lord exists even beyond this unmanifest 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 is the Supreme Being, 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 unmanifest, 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.
Arjuna said:
1. 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?
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?
COMMENTARY:
In the last two verses of the seventh discourse, Lord Krishna uses certain
philosophical terms. Arjuna does not understand their meaning. So he proceeds to question
the Lord.
The Blessed Lord said:
3. 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.
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)!
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.
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!
COMMENTARY:
The most prominent thought of one’s life occupies the mind at the time of death.
It determines the nature of the body to be attained in the next birth.
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.
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!
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,
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.
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.
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,
13.
Uttering the monosyllable Om—the Brahman—remembering Me always, he who departs
thus, leaving the body, attains to the supreme goal.
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)!
COMMENTARY:
Constantly remembering the Lord throughout one’s life is the easiest way of
attaining Him.
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).
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!
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.
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.
COMMENTARY:
Coming of the “day” is the commencement of creation. Coming of the
“night” is the commencement of dissolution.
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!
20. But
verily there exists, higher than the unmanifested, another unmanifested Eternal who is not
destroyed when all beings are destroyed.
COMMENTARY:
Another unmanifested Eternal refers to Para Brahman, which is distinct from the
unmanifested (primordial Nature), and which is of quite a different nature. It is superior
to Hiranyagarbha (the creative Intelligence) and the unmanifested Nature because It is
their cause. It is not destroyed when all beings from Brahma down to a blade of grass are
destroyed.
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).
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.
23. Now I
will tell thee, O chief of the Bharatas, the times departing at which the Yogis will
return or not return!
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.
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.
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.
COMMENTARY:
The bright path is the path to the gods taken by devotees. The dark path is of the
manes taken by those who perform sacrifices or charitable acts with the expectation of
rewards.
27. Knowing
these paths, O Arjuna, no Yogi is deluded! Therefore, at all times be steadfast in Yoga.
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) gifts—beyond all these goes the Yogi, having known this; and he attains
to the supreme primeval (first or ancient) Abode.
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:
“The Yoga Of the Imperishable
Brahman”
Chapters: 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18