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Chapter VIII |  |
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Chapters
arjuna uvaca kim tad brahma kim adhyatmam Arjuna said: 1. What is that Brahman? What is Adhyatma [self]? What is karma [fruitive activities]? O Best among men! What is said to be Adhibhuta [material manifestation], and what is called Adhidaiva [demigods]? adhiyajnah katham ko 'tra 2. Who and how is Adhiyajna [the Lord of sacrifice] here in this body, O Madhusudana? And how, at the time of death, art thou to be known by the self-controlled? sri-bhagavan uvaca aksaram brahma paramam The Blessed Lord said: 3. The Imperishable is Brahman, the Supreme. Its dwelling in the individual body is called Adhyatma. The offering, which causes the origin of beings, is called karma. adhibhutam ksaro bhavah 4. Adhibhuta [material manifestation] pertains to the perishable Nature and Purusha [the universal form of the Lord, which includes all the demigods] is the Adhidaivata; I alone am the Adhiyajna [the Lord of sacrifice] here in this body, O best of the embodied. anta-kale ca mam eva 5. And whoever, at the time of death, leaving the body, goes forth remembering Me alone, he attains My being; there is no doubt about this. yam yam vapi smaran bhavam 6. Whatever being a man thinks of at the last moment when he leaves his body, that alone does he attain, O Kaunteya, being ever absorbed in the thought thereof. tasmat sarvesu kalesu 7. Therefore at all times think of Me only and carry out your duty of fight. With mind and understanding set on Me, you will surely come to Me. abhyasa-yoga-yuktena 8. With the mind not wandering after anything else, made steadfast in the yoga of constant practice, he who meditates on the Supreme, Resplendent Purusha reaches Him, O Partha. kavim puranam anusasitaram prayana-kale manasacalena 9-10. The Omniscient, the Ancient, the Ruler, Minuter than an atom, the Supporter of all, of Form inconceivable, Effulgent like the sun, and Beyond all darkness; he who meditates on this Resplendent, Supreme Purusha, at the time of death, with a steady mind, devotion and strength of yoga, well fixing the entire Prana in the middle of the eye-brows, he reaches Him. yad aksaram veda-vido vadanti 11. That which the knower of Veda call the Imperishable, and into which enter the Sanyasins, Self-controlled and freed from attachment. Desiring such perfection, one practices celibacy. I shall now briefly explain to you this process by which one may attain salvation. sarva-dvarani samyamya om ity ekaksaram brahma 12-13. All the gates of the body closed, the mind confined within the heart, having fixed his life-energy in the head, engaged in firm yoga; uttering the one-syllable 'Om', Brahman, thinking of Me, he who departs, leaving the body, attains the Supreme Goal. ananya-cetah satatam 14. I am easily attainable, O Partha, by that ever-steadfast yogi, who constantly remembers Me daily and thinks of none else. mam upetya punar janma 15. Having come to Me, the great souls are no more subject to rebirth, which is transitory and which is full of miseries; for they have reached the highest perfection. a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah 16. All worlds including that of Brahma are subject to return, O Arjuna, but on reaching Me, O son of Kunti, there is no rebirth. sahasra-yuga-paryantam 17. Those who know that the day of Brahma lasts a thousand Yugas and that His night lasts a thousand Yugas, they are the knowers of day and night. avyaktad vyaktayah sarvah 18. At the coming of day all manifest beings proceed from the unmanifested, and at the coming of night they merge again in the same, which is called the unmanifested. bhuta-gramah sa evayam 19. This multitude of beings, coming forth again and again, merge, O Partha, in spite of themselves, at the approach of night, and remanifest themselves at the approach of day. paras tasmat tu bhavo 'nyo 20. But beyond this unmanifested, there is yet another Unmanifested Eternal Existence which does not perish even when all existences perish. avyakto 'ksara ity uktas 21. This Unmanifested is called the Imperishable; It is said to be the Ultimate Goal. Those who attain It return not. That is My Supreme Abode. purusah sa parah partha 22. That Supreme Purusha, O Partha, is attainable by unswerving devotion to Him alone within whom all beings dwell, by whom all this is pervaded. yatra kale tv anavrttim 23. Now I shall tell you, O the best of the Bharatas, the time in which the yogis depart never to return and also the time in which they depart to return. agnir jyotir ahah suklah 24. Those who know the Brahman attain that Supreme by passing away from the world during the influence of the fiery god, in the light, day-time, the bright half of the moon, or during the the six months when the sun travels in the north. dhumo ratris tatha krsnah 25. Smoke, night, the dark half of the moon, and the six months of the southern passage of the sun, then going forth, the yogi obtains lunar light and returns. sukla-krsne gati hy ete 26. The bright and the dark, these paths are deemed to be the world's eternal paths; by the one a man goes, not to return, by the other he returns again. naite srti partha janan 27. Knowing these two paths, O Partha, no yogi is deluded. Therefore, O Arjuna, be steadfast in yoga, at all times. vedesu yajnesu tapahsu caiva 28. The yogi who knows this transcends the fruits of meritorious deeds attached to the study of the Vedas, performing sacrifices, austerities and giving charity, and at the end he reaches the supreme primeval Abode. In the Upanishad of the Bhagavad Gita, the knowledge of Brahman, the Supreme, the science of Yoga and the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, this is the eighth discourse designated: THE YOGA OF THE IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN
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