VIII - Akshara Brahma Yogam

1/VIII. Arjuna said, “Krishna, what is that Brahma (Absolute), what is Adhyatma (Spririt), and what is Karma (Action)? What is called Adhibhuta (Matter) and what is termed as Adhidaiva (divine intelligence)?”


2/VIII. “Krishna, who is Adhiyajna here and how does he dwell in the body? And how are You to be realized at the time of death by those of steadfast mind”


3/VIII. Sri Bhagavan Said, “The supreme Indestructible is Brahma; one's own self (the individual soul) is called Adhyatma; and the discharge of spirits (Visarga), which brings forth the existence of beings, is called Karma (Action)”


4/VIII. “All perishable objects are Adhibhuta; the shining Purusa (Brahma) is Adhidaiva; and in this body I Myself, dwelling as the inner witness, am Adhiyajna, O Arjuna!”


5/VIII. “He who departs from the body, thinking of Me alone even at the time of death, attains My state; there is no doubt about it”


6/VIII. “Arjuna, thinking of whatever entity one leaves the body at the time of death, that and that alone one attains, being ever absorbed in its thought”


7/VIII. “Therefore, Arjuna, think of Me at all times and fight. With mind and reason thus set on Me, You will doubtless come to Me”


8/VIII. “Arjuna, he who with his mind disciplined through Yoga in the form of practice of meditation and thinking of nothing else, is constantly engaged in contemplation of God attains the supremely effulgent divine Purusa (God)”


9/VIII. “He who contemplates on the all-wise, ageless Being, the Ruler of all, subtler than the subtle, the universal sustainer, possessing a Form beyond human conception, refulgent like the sun and far beyond the darkness of ignorance”


10/VIII. “Having by the power of Yoga firmly held the life-breath in the space between the two eyebrows even at the time of death, and the contemplating on God with a steadfast mind, full of devotion, he reaches verily that supreme divine Purusa (God)”


11/VIII. “I shall tell you briefly about that supreme goal (viz., God who is an embodiment of Truth, Knowledge and Bliss), which the knowers of the Veda term as the Indestructible; which striving recluses free from passion enter, and desiring which the celibates practise Brahmacharya”


12,13/VIII. “Having closed all the doors of the senses, and firmly holding the mind in the cavity of the heart, and then fixing the life-beath in the head, and thus remaining steadfast in Yogic concentration on God, he who leaves the body and departs uttering the one indestructible Brahma, Om, and dwelling on Me in My absolute aspect, reaches the supreme goal”


14/VIII. “Arjuna, whosoever always and constantly thinks of Me with undivided mind, to that Yogi ever absorbed in Me I am easily attainable”


15/VIII. “Great souls, who have attained the highest perfection, having come to Me, are no more subjected to rebirth, which is the abode of sorrow, and transient by nature”


16/VIII. “Arjuna, All worlds, till Brahma worlds, have got uncertinity time to being i.e., those are all have to be disappeared and appeared in a limited time cycle. Even if go to them, they have to re-birth again. But, O son of Kunti, after attained me there is no re-birth again because I am beyond the life cycle (Creater of the universe)”


17/VIII. “Those Yogis who know from realization Brahma's day as covering a thousand Mahayugas, know the reality about time”


18/VIII. “All embodied beings emanate from the Unmanifest (i.e., Brahma's subtle body) at the coming of the cosmic day; at the cosmic nightfall they merge into the same subtle body of Brahma, known as the Unmanifest”


19/VIII. “Arjuna, this multitude of beings, being born again and again, is dissolved under compulsion of its nature at the coming of the cosmic night, and rises again at the commencement of the cosmic day”


20/VIII. “Far beyond even this Unmanifest, there is yet another unmanifest Existence, that Supreme Divine Person, who does not perish even though all beings perish”


21/VIII. “The same Unmanifest which has been spoken of as the Indestructible is also called the supreme Goal; that again is My supreme Abode, attaining which they return not to this mortal world”


22/VIII. “Arjuna, that eternal unmanifest supreme Purusa in whom all beings reside, and by whom all this is pervaded, is attainable only through exclusive Devotion”


23/VIII. “Arjuna, I shall now tell you the time (path) departing when Yogis do not return, and also the time (path) departing when they do return”


24/VIII. “(Of the two paths) the one is that which are stationed the all-effulgent fire-god and the deities presiding over daylight, the bright fortnight, and the six months of the northward course of the sun respectively; proceeding along it after death Yogis, who have known Brahma, being successively led by the above gods, finally reach Brahma”


25/VIII. “The other path is that wherein are stationed the gods presiding over smoke, night, the dark fornight, and the six months of the southward course of the sun; the Yogi (devoted to action with an interested motive) taking to this path after death is led by the above gods, one after another, and attaining the lustre of the moon (and enjoying he fruit of this meritorious deeds in heaven) returns to this mortal world”


26/VIII. “For these two paths of the world, the bright and the dark, are considered to be eternal. Proceeding by one of them, one reaches the supreme state from which there is no return; and proceeding by the other, one returns to the mortal world, ie., becomes subject to birth and death once more”


27/VIII. “Knowing thus the secret of these two paths, O son of Kunti, no Yogi gets deluded. Therefore, Arjuna, at all times be steadfast in Yoga in the form of equanimity (i.e., strive constantly for My realization)”


28/VIII. “The Yogi, realizing this profound truth, doubtless transcends all the rewards, ascribed in the scriptures to the study of the Vedas, as well as to the performance of sacrifices, austerities and charities, and attains the beginningless supreme state”

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OM THATH SATH