Verse 8-1

Arjuna asked: What, Purushottama, is Brahman great?

What is Adhyatma 's true and proper state?

What Karma is, what is its purpose told?

What's Adhibhuta, and Adhidaiva bold?

Verse 8-2

How is Adhiyajna known, where does He dwell?

Within this body, Madhusudana, tell?

And how are You, at the time of ending near,

By those controlled in mind, discerned and clear?

Verse 8-3

The Blessed Lord said:

The Imperishable is Brahman, high and vast.

One's nature, Svabhava, is Adhyatma cast.

The force creating beings, causing them to start,

That Visarga, known as Karma, plays its part.

Verse 8-4

Adhibhuta is the state of being that decays.

Purusha, Adhidaiva, shines in many ways.

Adhiyajna, here within this form, I Myself reside,

O best of embodied ones, where souls abide.

Verse 8-5

And he who, at the end, leaves this body's hold,

Remembering Me alone, with courage bold,

He reaches My own state, beyond all fear;

There is no doubt in this, made very clear.

Verse 8-6

Whatever state one thinks of at the last,

When leaving body, mind and life held fast,

That very state, O son of Kunti, is attained,

By constant dwelling on that thought, unrestrained.

Verse 8-7

Therefore, at all times, think of Me, and fight.

With mind and intellect fixed on My light,

You shall indeed reach Me, beyond all doubt.

Verse 8-8

By constant practice, mind not straying out,

He goes to the supreme Person, divine and true,

Thinking upon Him, ever fresh and new.

Verse 8-9

The ancient Seer, the Ruler, Lord of all,

More subtle than the atom, hearing nature's call,

The Sustainer of all, unthinkable in form,

Luminous like the sun, beyond the darkest storm.

Verse 8-10

At departure's time, with steady mind,

With devotion, by yoga's power refined,

Focusing life-breath rightly 'tween the brows,

He reaches that supreme, divine Person's vows.

Verse 8-11

That Imperishable, Vedas' knowers name,

Which ascetics free from passion seek to claim,

Desiring which, they practice chastity's pure art,

That goal I shall explain in brief, dear heart.

Verse 8-12

Controlling sense-gates, mind in heart confining,

Placing life-breath in the head, with yoga's skill aligning.

Verse 8-13

Uttering Om, the single sound, which is Brahman true,

Remembering Me, who leaves the body through,

He attains the supreme goal, beyond all worldly view.

Verse 8-14

He who remembers Me constantly, with mind unswerving,

To that ever-steadfast yogi, I am easily deserving.

Verse 8-15

Having attained Me, they do not take birth anew,

In this sorrow's world, transient, false, untrue.

The great souls, reaching supreme perfection's height,

Return no more, dwelling in eternal light.

Verse 8-16

From the realm of Brahma downwards, all worlds spin and cease,

They are places of return, giving no release.

But having come to Me, O son of Kunti, known,

For them, no rebirth is by nature shown.

Verse 8-17

Who know the day of Brahma, lasting thousand ages wide,

And night of Brahma, also thousand ages ride,

They are the knowers of day and night, by time's eternal tide.

Verse 8-18

From the Unmanifest, all beings manifest and stream,

When Brahma's day arrives, like a waking dream.

At the coming of night, they dissolve back to that lair,

The Unmanifest source, beyond all thought and care.

Verse 8-19

The same host of beings, helpless, again and again are born,

At night's coming, they dissolve, weary and forlorn.

At the coming of day, O Partha, they manifest again, torn.

Verse 8-20

But beyond this Unmanifest, there is another state,

Unmanifest too, eternal, sealed by timeless fate.

When all beings perish, that does not abate.

Verse 8-21

This Unmanifest is called Imperishable, steadfast, high,

They call it the supreme goal, reaching which, they do not die.

That is My supreme abode, beneath My watchful eye.

Verse 8-22

That supreme Person, O Partha, by devotion gained,

Within whom all beings dwell, by whom all is sustained.

Verse 8-23

Now I shall speak to you, O best of Bharatas' line,

Of the time when yogis leave, some return, some align.

The time when they depart, achieving liberation's sign.

Verse 8-24

Fire, light, day, the bright half, six months of sun's northern source.

Then departing, those who know Brahman, go to Brahman, by spiritual force.

Verse 8-25

Smoke, night, the dark half, six months of sun's southern course.

Then the yogi attains lunar light, and returns, following nature's source.

Verse 8-26

Indeed, these two paths, bright and dark, eternal are.

By one, one goes not back; by the other, returns from afar.

Verse 8-27

Knowing these two paths, O Partha, no yogi is perplexed.

Therefore, at all times, O Arjuna, in yoga be annexed.

Verse 8-28

Whatever fruit of merit in Vedas is declared,

In sacrifices, austerities, or gifts shared,

The yogi surpasses all, this truth commands the heart,

And attains the supreme, primeval abode, set apart.