Chapter 8 : Akshar-Brahma Yog
1
Arjuna
inquired: O my Lord, O Supreme Person, what is Brahman? What is the self?
What are fruitive activities? What is this material manifestation? And
what are the demigods? Please explain this to me.
2
Who is the
Lord of sacrifice, and how does He live in the body, O Madhusudana? And
how can those engaged in devotional service know You at the time of death?
3
The Supreme
Personality of Godhead said: The indestructible, transcendental living
entity is called Brahman, and his eternal nature is called adhyatma, the
self. Action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the
living entities is called karma, or fruitive activities.
4
O best of
the embodied beings, the physical nature, which is constantly changing,
is called adhibhuta [the material manifestation]. The universal form of
the Lord, which includes all the demigods, like those of the sun and moon,
is called adhidaiva. And I, the Supreme Lord, represented as the Supersoul
in the heart of every embodied being, am called adhiyajna [the Lord of
sacrifice].
5
And whoever,
at the end of his life, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains
My nature. Of this there is no doubt.
6
Whatever state
of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state
he will attain without fail.
7
Therefore,
Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krishna and at the
same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities
dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain
Me without doubt.
8
He who meditates
on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged
in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha, is sure to reach
Me.
9
One should
meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He
who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest,
who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception,
who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the
sun, and He is transcendental, beyond this material nature.
10
One who, at
the time of death, fixes his life air between the eyebrows and, by the
strength of yoga, with an undeviating mind, engages himself in remembering
the Supreme Lord in full devotion, will certainly attain to the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.
11
Persons who
are learned in the Vedas, who utter omkara and who are great sages in the
renounced order enter into Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices
celibacy. I shall now briefly explain to you this process by which one
may attain salvation.
12
The yogic
situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements. Closing all
the doors of the senses and fixing the mind on the heart and the life air
at the top of the head, one establishes himself in yoga.
13
After being
situated in this yoga practice and vibrating the sacred syllable om, the
supreme combination of letters, if one thinks of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead and quits his body, he will certainly reach the spiritual planets.
14
For one who
always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Prtha,
because of his constant engagement in devotional service.
15
After attaining
Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary
world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest
perfection.
16
From the highest
planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery
wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My
abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.
17
By human calculation,
a thousand ages taken together form the duration of Brahma's one day. And
such also is the duration of his night.
18
At the beginning
of Brahma's day, all living entities become manifest from the unmanifest
state, and thereafter, when the night falls, they are merged into the unmanifest
again.
19
Again and
again, when Brahma's day arrives, all living entities come into being,
and with the arrival of Brahma's night they are helplessly annihilated.
20
Yet there
is another unmanifest nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to
this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated.
When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.
21
That which
the Vedantists describe as unmanifest and infallible, that which is known
as the supreme destination, that place from which, having attained it,
one never returns -- that is My supreme abode.
22
The Supreme
Personality of Godhead, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed
devotion. Although He is present in His abode, He is all-pervading, and
everything is situated within Him.
23
O best of
the Bharatas, I shall now explain to you the different times at which,
passing away from this world, the yogi does or does not come back.
24
Those who
know the Supreme Brahman attain that Supreme by passing away from the world
during the influence of the fiery god, in the light, at an auspicious moment
of the day, during the fortnight of the waxing moon, or during the six
months when the sun travels in the north.
25
The mystic
who passes away from this world during the smoke, the night, the fortnight
of the waning moon, or the six months when the sun passes to the south
reaches the moon planet but again comes back.
26
According
to Vedic opinion, there are two ways of passing from this world -- one
in light and one in darkness. When one passes in light, he does not come
back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns.
27
Although the
devotees know these two paths, O Arjuna, they are never bewildered. Therefore
be always fixed in devotion.
28
A person who
accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived
from studying the Vedas, performing austere sacrifices, giving charity
or pursuing philosophical and fruitive activities. Simply by performing
devotional service, he attains all these, and at the end he reaches the
supreme eternal abode.
Akshar-Brahma Yog |