Chapter 8

अक्षरब्रह्मयोग

The Imperishable (Akṣarabrahmayoga)

Arjuna asks about the Supreme, the self, action and the moment of death. Krishna explains that what we keep in mind throughout life shapes our final thought, so he advises remembering him at all times while continuing to do one's work.

What you practise remembering every day is what stays with you at the end.

8.1किं तद्ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम।Arjuna asks Krishna, the highest of persons: What is Brahman (the ultimate reality)? What is adhyatma (the inner self)? What is karma (action)? And what are adhibhuta (the realm of physical beings) and adhidaiva (the realm of the divine powers) said to be?
8.2अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन।Arjuna continues: Who is adhiyajna (the lord of sacrifice) here in this body, and how does he dwell in it? And at the time of death, how can those who have mastered themselves know you, Krishna?
8.3अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते।Krishna answers: Brahman is the supreme, imperishable reality. Adhyatma is one's own essential nature. Karma is the creative outpouring that brings beings into existence and sustains them.
8.4अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम्।Krishna continues: Adhibhuta is everything that perishes and changes. Adhidaiva is the cosmic Person who presides over the divine powers. And adhiyajna, the lord of all sacrifice, is I myself, dwelling here in the body, O best of the embodied.
8.5अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम्।Krishna says: Whoever leaves the body at the time of death remembering me alone reaches my state of being. Of this there is no doubt.
8.6यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम्।Whatever state of being a person remembers when leaving the body at the end, that very state they reach, Arjuna, because they have always been absorbed in it.
8.7तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च।Therefore, Krishna tells Arjuna, remember me at all times and fight. With your mind and understanding offered to me, you will surely come to me.
8.8अभ्यासयोगयुक्तेन चेतसा नान्यगामिना।With a mind trained by steady practice and not wandering elsewhere, one who keeps reflecting on the supreme, radiant Person reaches him, Arjuna.
8.9कविं पुराणमनुशासितार मणोरणीयांसमनुस्मरेद्यः।One should meditate on the Supreme as the all-knowing seer, the ancient one, the ruler of all, subtler than the subtlest, the support of everything, beyond imagining in form, shining like the sun and beyond all darkness.
8.10प्रयाणकाले मनसाऽचलेन भक्त्या युक्तो योगबलेन चैव।At the time of departure, one who has an unmoving mind, is filled with devotion, and through the strength of yoga draws the life-breath fully between the eyebrows, reaches that supreme, divine Person.
8.11यदक्षरं वेदविदो वदन्ति विशन्ति यद्यतयो वीतरागाः।Krishna says: I will now briefly describe to you that goal which knowers of the Vedas call the imperishable, which disciplined seekers free from attachment enter, and for which people live a life of brahmacharya (self-restraint and study).
8.12सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च।Closing all the gates of the senses, holding the mind within the heart, and placing the life-breath at the crown of the head, one becomes established in steady yogic concentration.
8.13ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन्।Uttering Om, the single sacred syllable that is Brahman, and remembering me, whoever departs leaving the body reaches the highest goal.
8.14अनन्यचेताः सततं यो मां स्मरति नित्यशः।Krishna says: For the yogi who constantly remembers me every day with a mind fixed on nothing else, and who is always united with me, I am easy to reach, Arjuna.
8.15मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम्।Having come to me, great souls who have reached the highest perfection are not born again into this temporary world, which is a home of sorrow.
8.16आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन।All worlds, even up to the realm of Brahma the creator, are subject to return into rebirth, Arjuna. But for one who reaches me, there is no rebirth.
8.17सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद्ब्रह्मणो विदुः।Those who understand that a single day of Brahma lasts a thousand ages, and his night also lasts a thousand ages, truly know what day and night are.
8.18अव्यक्ताद्व्यक्तयः सर्वाः प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे।When Brahma's day begins, all manifest things arise from the unmanifest. When his night falls, they dissolve back into that same unmanifest source.
8.19भूतग्रामः स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते।This same multitude of beings comes into existence again and again, and helplessly dissolves when night falls, Arjuna, only to arise again when day dawns.
8.20परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः।But beyond this unmanifest there is another, eternal unmanifest reality, which does not perish even when all beings perish.
8.21अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम्।That unmanifest is called the imperishable, and it is declared the highest goal. Those who reach it do not return. That is my supreme abode.
8.22पुरुषः स परः पार्थ भक्त्या लभ्यस्त्वनन्यया।That supreme Person, Arjuna, within whom all beings dwell and by whom this whole universe is pervaded, is reached through undivided devotion.
8.23यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः।Krishna says: Now I will tell you, best of the Bharatas, the times at which yogis who depart from this world either do not return or do return.
8.24अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम्।Fire, light, daytime, the bright half of the lunar month, and the six months of the sun's northern course: those who know Brahman and depart by this path go to Brahman.
8.25धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम्।Smoke, night, the dark half of the lunar month, and the six months of the sun's southern course: the yogi who departs by this path reaches the light of the moon and then returns.
8.26शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते।These two paths of the world, the bright and the dark, are considered eternal. By one, a person goes and does not return; by the other, a person comes back again.
8.27नैते सृती पार्थ जानन्योगी मुह्यति कश्चन।Knowing these two paths, Arjuna, no yogi is ever confused. Therefore, at all times, remain steadfast in yoga.
8.28वेदेषु यज्ञेषु तपःसु चैव दानेषु यत्पुण्यफलं प्रदिष्टम्।Whatever merit is promised from studying the Vedas, performing sacrifices, austerities and charity, the yogi who understands this teaching goes beyond all of it and reaches the supreme, original abode.