Chapter VIII

Arjuna said:

What is that Brahman, what the Adhyātma, and what, O best of beings! is action? And what is called the Adhibhūta? And who is the Adhiyajña, and how in this body, O destroyer of Madhu? And how, too, are you to be known at the time of departure (from this world) by those who restrain their selfs?

The Deity said:

The Brahman is the supreme, the indestructible. Its manifestation (as an individual self) is called the Adhyātma. The offering (of an oblation to any divinity), which is the cause of the production and development of all things, is named action. The Adhibhūta is all perishable things. The Adhidaivata is the (primal) being. And the Adhiyajña, O best of embodied (beings)! is I myself in this body^[1]. And he who leaves this body and departs (from this world) remembering me in (his) last moments, comes into my essence. There is no doubt of that. Also whichever form^[2] (of deity) he remembers when he finally leaves this body, to that he goes, O son of Kuntī! having been used to ponder on it. Therefore, at all times remember me, and engage in battle. Fixing your mind and understanding on me, you will come to me, there is no doubt. He who thinks of the supreme divine Being, O son of Pṛthā! with a mind not (running) to other (objects), and possessed of abstraction in the shape of continuous meditation (about the supreme), goes to him. He who, possessed of reverence (for the supreme Being) with a steady mind, and with the power of devotion, properly concentrates the life-breath between the brows^[3], and meditates on the ancient Seer, the ruler, more minute than the minutest atom^[4], the supporter of all, who is of an unthinkable form, whose brilliance is like that of the sun, and who is beyond all darkness^[5], he attains to that transcendent and divine Being. I^[6] will tell you briefly about the seat, which those who know the Vedas declare to be indestructible; which entered by ascetics from whom all desires have departed; and wishing for which, people pursue the mode of life of Brahmacārins^[7]. He who leaves the body and departs (from this world), stopping up all passages^[8], and confining the mind within the heart^[9], placing the life-breath in the head, and adhering to uninterrupted meditation^[10], repeating the single syllable 'Om,' (signifying) the eternal Brahman^[11], and meditating on me, he reaches the highest goal. To the devotee who constantly practises abstraction, O son of Pṛthā! and who with a mind not (turned) to anything else, is ever and constantly meditating on me, I am easy of access. The high-souled ones, who achieve the highest perfection, attaining to me, do not again come to life, which is transient, a home of woes^[12]. All worlds, O Arjuna! up to the world of Brahman, are (destined) to return^[13]. But, O son of Kuntī! after attaining to me, there is no birth again. Those who know a day of Brahman to end after one thousand ages, and the night to terminate after one thousand ages, are the persons who know day and night^[14]. On the advent of day, all perceptible things are produced from the unperceived; and on the advent of night they dissolve in that same (principle) called the unperceived. This same assemblage of entities, being produced again and again, dissolves on the advent of night, and, O son of Pṛthā! issues forth on the advent of day, without a will of its own^[15]. But there is another entity, unperceived and eternal, and distinct from this unperceived (principle), which is not destroyed when all entities are destroyed. It is called the unperceived, the indestructible; they call it the highest goal. Attaining to it, none returns^[16]. That is my supreme abode. That supreme Being, O son of Pṛthā! he in whom all these entities dwell^[17], and by whom all this is permeated, is to be attained to by reverence not (directed) to another. I will state the times, O descendant of Bharata! at which devotees departing (from this world) go, never to return, or to return. The fire, the flame^[18], the day, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern solstice, departing (from the world) in these, those who know the Brahman go to the Brahman. Smoke, night, the dark fortnight, the six months of the southern solstice, (dying) in these, the devotee goes to the lunar light and returns^[19]. These two paths, bright and dark, are deemed to be eternal in this world^[20]. By the one, (a man) goes never to return, by the other he comes back. Knowing these two paths, O son of Pṛthā! no devotee is deluded^[21]. Therefore at all times be possessed of devotion, O Arjuna! A devotee knowing all this^[22], obtains all the holy fruit which is prescribed for (study of) the Vedas, for sacrifices, and also for penances and gifts, and he attains to the highest and primeval seat.