Aksara Brahman Yoga
The Yoga Of The Imperishable Brahman
8:1: Arjuna inquired: What is Brahman? What is the individual self?What is karma? O supreme Soul, what is the objective universe and whatare the gods?
8:2: O slayer of the demon Madhu, who is the God of sacrifice andhow does that Being dwell in this [material] body? At the time ofdeath, how can You be known by one who is self controlled?
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8:3: The Blessed One said: The eternal nature of the livingentity is called "supreme imperishable Brahman." The origin of manifestforms is called "the emission of action."
8:4: The objective universe is perishable by nature. Purusha, theSoul of the universe, is the God of the gods. I am the God of sacrificeand I dwell within the body, O best of the embodied beings.
8:5: At the time of death one who leaves the body, remembering Me only, attains My being. Of this there is no doubt.
8:6: Whichever form one remembers when leaving the body, O childof Kunti, that nature will certainly be attained due to that constantconditioning of consciousness.
8:7: Therefore as you fight [or perform your duty], remember Meat all times. With your mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will,without a doubt, come to Me.
8:8: By the yoga of constant meditation, maintaining the mind andintellect without deviation, the Supreme, Transcendental Person isattained, O Pritha, by constant remembrance.
8:9, 10: One who constantly remembers [Me] as the all-knowing,the oldest, the supreme ruler, smaller than the atom, maintainer of all,of inconceivable form, effulgent as the sun yet transcendent as thedarkness,
At the time of death, with the mind undeviated and yoked with devotionon the Supreme Person by the power of yoga, and with the breath of lifecompletely placed between the eyebrows, attains the celestial nature.
8:11: I will now explain to you in brief that which the knowersof the Vedas call the Imperishable and which, being entered into bythose who practice self control, who desire freedom from attachment andwho therefore practice celibacy, set foot on.
8:12: To practice meditative concentration one must restrain allthe doors of the body and confine the mind within the heart. Placing thevital life energy of the soul in the head, abide there.
8:13: One who quits the body while uttering the omkara, the one-syllabled form of Brahman, remembering Me, attains the supreme goal.
8:14: For one whose mind is undeviated, who constantly remembersMe and is regularly engaged in yoga, O child of Pritha, I am easy toattain.
8:15: Achieving Me, these great souls never again return to thisplace of suffering and rebirth, having achieved the highest perfection.
8:16: All the planets up to Brahmaloka require one to returnagain, O Arjuna, but upon attaining Me, O child of Kunti, [further]rebirths are not produced.
8:17 - 19: According to those who have knowledge, one thousandhuman ages is the length of Brahma's day; his night is also one thousandyears.
From the unmanifest all manifestations spring forth as his day dawns.As his night falls, they dissolve again into that which is called theunmanifest.
O descendent of Partha, the multitude of beings are repeatedly born anddissolved as the night falls, and again they instinctively manifest atdaybreak.
8:20, 21: But higher than that unmanifested condition is anotherUnmanifest; This Unmanifest is eternal and is not extinguished even whenall beings are decimated.
Thus it is said that this Being, the imperishable Unmanifest, is thehighest objective, achieving Whom one does not return from that supremeabode of Mine.
8:22: O child of Partha, the Supreme Person Who is dwellingwithin all beings and by Whom all this is pervaded, can only be attainedthrough unalloyed devotion.
8:23 -28: I will now describe the times in which, if a yogideparts the body, he or she will or will not return, O best of theBharatas.
Those who know Brahman and pass away during the influence of the fire,the light of day, the bright fortnight or the six months when the sunpasses to the north go to Brahman.
The yogi who passes away during the influence of smoke, night, the darkfortnight or the six months when the sun passes to the south go to themoon and then return.
Light and dark, these are indeed opinioned to be the ways of theperpetual universe. By one one goes and does not return, by the otherthe living entity returns again.
O child of Partha, knowing these two paths a yogi is not deluded.Therefore, O Arjuna, at all times, be yoked to the yoga system.
The yogi who knows this transcends whatever fruits of holiness aredeclared in all the Vedas, in the performance of sacrifices, inausterities or in giving charities and achieves the supreme, primevalabode.
Here Ends Chapter Eight
Go to: Chapter Nine.
Go to: Notes and References.
Go to: Cover Page.
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