Chapter 8 · 28 verses
अक्षरब्रह्मयोगः
Akṣara-brahma-yogaḥ
- 8.1किं तद्ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम।Arjuna said, "What is Brahman? What is Adhyatma? What is action, O best among men? What is Adhibhuta declared…
- 8.2अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन।Who and how is Adhiyajna here in this body, O destroyer of Madhu? And how, at the time of death, are You to…
- 8.3अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते।The Blessed Lord said, "Brahman is the Imperishable, the Supreme; its essential nature is called…
- 8.4अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम्।Adhibhuta—knowledge of the elements—pertains to My perishable nature, and the Purusha, or the Soul, is the…
- 8.5अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम्।And whoever, leaving their body, goes forth remembering Me alone at the time of death, they will attain My…
- 8.6यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम्।Whoever at the end leaves the body, thinking of any being, to that being only does he go, O son of Kunti…
- 8.7तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च।Therefore, at all times, remember Me only and fight. With your mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will…
- 8.8अभ्यासयोगयुक्तेन चेतसा नान्यगामिना।With the mind not moving towards any other thing, made steadfast through the practice of habitual meditation,…
- 8.9कविं पुराणमनुशासितारWhosoever meditates on the Omniscient, the Ancient, the Ruler of the whole world, minuter than an atom, the…
- 8.10प्रयाणकाले मनसाऽचलेनAt the time of death, with an unwavering mind, endowed with devotion, by the power of Yoga, fixing the whole…
- 8.11यदक्षरं वेदविदो वदन्तिThat which is declared to be Imperishable by those who know the Vedas, that which the self-controlled…
- 8.12सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च।Having closed all the gates, confined the mind in the heart, and fixed the life-breath in the head, engage in…
- 8.13ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन्।Uttering the one-syllabled Om, the Brahman, and remembering Me, he who departs, leaving the body, attains the…
- 8.14अनन्यचेताः सततं यो मां स्मरति नित्यशः।I am easily attainable by that ever-steadfast yogi who constantly and daily remembers me for a long time, not…
- 8.15मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम्।Having attained Me, these great souls do not take birth again here—a place of pain and impermanence—but have…
- 8.16आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन।All the worlds, including the world of Brahma, are subject to return again, O Arjuna; but he who reaches Me,…
- 8.17सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद्ब्रह्मणो विदुः।Those who know the day of Brahma, which lasts a thousand Yugas, and the night, which also lasts a thousand…
- 8.18अव्यक्ताद्व्यक्तयः सर्वाः प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे।From the Unmanifested, all the manifested worlds proceed upon the arrival of the 'day'; upon the arrival of…
- 8.19भूतग्रामः स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते।This same multitude of beings, being born again and again, helplessly dissolves, O Arjuna, into the…
- 8.20परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः।But verily, there exists higher than this Unmanifested, another Unmanifested Eternal, which is not destroyed…
- 8.21अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम्।What is known as the Unmanifested and the Imperishable, That is said to be the highest goal. Those who reach…
- 8.22पुरुषः स परः पार्थ भक्त्या लभ्यस्त्वनन्यया।That highest Purusha, O Arjuna, is attainable by unswerving devotion to Him alone, within Whom all beings…
- 8.23यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः।Now I will tell you, O chief of the Bharatas, the times of departure at which the Yogis will return or not…
- 8.24अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम्।Fire, light, daytime, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern path of the sun (the northern…
- 8.25धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम्।Attaining the lunar light through smoke, night time, the dark fortnight, and the six months of the southern…
- 8.26शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते।The bright and dark paths of the world are thought to be eternal; one leads to no return, and the other leads…
- 8.27नैते सृती पार्थ जानन्योगी मुह्यति कश्चन।Knowing these paths, O Arjuna, no yogi is deluded; therefore, at all times, be steadfast in yoga.
- 8.28वेदेषु यज्ञेषु तपःसु चैवWhatever fruit of merit is declared (in the scriptures) to accrue from (the study of) the Vedas, (the…