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CHAPTER EIGHT Attaining the SupremeTEXT 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. TEXT 2: Who is the Lord of sacrifice, and how does He live in the
body, O Madhusūdana? And how can those engaged in devotional service know You
at the time of death? TEXT 3: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The
indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman, and his
eternal nature is called adhyātma, the self. Action pertaining to the
development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma, or
fruitive activities. TEXT 4: O best of the embodied beings, the physical nature, which
is constantly changing, is called adhibhūta [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 adhiyajña
[the Lord of sacrifice]. TEXT 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. TEXT 6: Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his
body, O son of Kuntī, that state he will attain without fail. TEXT 7: Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the
form of Kṛṣṇa 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. TEXT 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 Pārtha, is sure to reach Me. TEXT 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. TEXT 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. TEXT 11: Persons who are learned in the Vedas, who utter oṁ-kāra, 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. TEXT 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. TEXT 13: After being situated in this yoga practice and vibrating
the sacred syllable oṁ,
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. TEXT 14: For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am
easy to obtain, O son of Pṛthā, because of his constant engagement in devotional service. TEXT 15: After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in
devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries,
because they have attained the highest perfection. TEXT 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 Kuntī, never takes birth again. TEXT 17: By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together form
the duration of Brahmā’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night. TEXT 18: At the beginning of Brahmā’s day, all living entities
become manifest from the unmanifest state, and thereafter, when the night
falls, they are merged into the unmanifest again. TEXT 19: Again and again, when Brahmā’s day arrives, all living
entities come into being, and with the arrival of Brahmā’s night they are
helplessly annihilated. TEXT 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. TEXT 21: That which the Vedāntists 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. TEXT 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. TEXT 23: O best of the Bhāratas, I shall now explain to you the
different times at which, passing away from this world, the yogī does or does
not come back. TEXT 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. TEXT 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. TEXT 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. TEXT 27: Although the devotees know these two paths, O Arjuna,
they are never bewildered. Therefore be always fixed in devotion. TEXT 28: A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived from studying the Vedas, performing sacrifices, undergoing austerities, 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. |