In this chapter, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna about Brahm, about Atma, about Karma, about Adhyatma, Adhibhuta, Adhidaiva and Adhiyagya. He tells him that at the time of death, the thoughts that occupy the mind, take the atma to those states after death. He also tells Arjuna about the two ways of departing from this world, and about the path leading to liberation.
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Arjuna asks Lord Krishna : Lord, What is Brahm? What is Adhyatma? What is Karma? What is Adhibhuta, and what is Adhidaiva? What is Adhiyagya? And the person who has controlled himself, how does he know you at the time of death?
Lord Krishna explains : Partha, Brahm is the Absolute. It is My highest Nature, and is the cause and source of all the living and the non living, the moving and the non moving. It is above all, and it is Imperishable.
Brahm, situated in all living beings, is called Atma, and the nature of the Atma is called Adhyatma.
Karma is the creative force that brings all beings into existence.
Adhibhuta is the perishable, physical, world, where all created things must perish, where all created things must have an end.
Adhidaiva is the divine in all beings, it is the Purusha, the eternal spirit in all beings.
Adhiyagya is the supreme sacrifice made to Me, the dweller in everybody.
At the time of death, while leaving the body, whosoever thinks of Me, he most certainly, without doubt, attains to My status, he reaches Me.
At the end, that is, at the time of death, whatever occupies the mind, immersed in the thought of that state, after death, that very state becomes the destination, he reaches the state of his thoughts.
Therefore Partha, always think of Me, remember Me, and fight the war. When your mind, and your intellect are always concentrated and focused on Me alone, then most certainly, without doubt, you will attain Me.
The person who, through the constant practice of focusing his consciousness on yoga, meditates on the Supreme Person, and who does not allow his mind and his consciousness to wander and stray, he most certainly attains to that divine Supreme Person.
The person who meditates on the All Knowing, Divine Param Atma, who is subtler than the subtle, who is the source of all, and who pervades all, whose form cannot be seen, who is beyond darkness, and who is brighter than the sun;
The person who, at the time of death, is able to still his mind with devotion and the power of yoga, and who fully concentrates his life force between his eye brows, he attains to that All Knowing, Divine Param Atma, that is, he attains to Me.
Now I will tell you, in brief, what the knowers of the Vedas call the Imperishable, that Imperishable which is entered into by the tyagis, the renouncers, and by other enlightened ones, and to achieve which, people are ready to live the tough life of brahmcharis, who are strict celibates and renunciates.
Controlling all the openings of the body, confining the mind within the heart, steadying the life breath in the head, and engaged in the yoga of meditation, he who, uttering the syllable, the word AUM, which is the Absolute itself, gives up the human body, he definitely attains to the Supreme, he attains liberation.
The person, who, thinking of nothing else, constantly remembers Me, such a disciplined yogi easily attains to Me.
After attaining Me, he gains liberation, and is not born again into this world full of sorrow.
Dwellers in all the worlds, right from the world of Lord Brahma downwards, have to take birth again. But after reaching Me, after attaining to Me, one is not born again. He is freed from the cycle of births and deaths.
Those who know that the day and the night of Lord Brahma, the Creator, are each a thousand ages long, they truly understand the meaning of the cycle of time and creation, they truly understand the meaning of eternity.
At the beginning of Brahma's day, all beings, the entire world, with all its creatures, are born, they come into existence by My Unmanifest Nature, and with the coming of Brahma's night, all beings, the entire world, with all its creatures, dies and merges into that very same Nature.
All this world, all creation, and all creatures, being under the control of My Nature, helplessly merge into it at night, and stream forth again into existence when day begins. They are born every day, in Brahma's day, and they die every day, when Brahma's night comes.
But beyond, and even greater than this Unmanifest, is yet another Unmanifest Being, who is eternal and imperishable, who does not perish when all else perishes.
That Unmanifest, and Imperishable, is the Highest Goal, that is My Highest Abode. Those who reach that stage, gain liberation. They are not born again into this world, and are freed from the cycle of birth and death.
That Supreme person who is beyond every one, in whom all beings reside, and by whom this whole world is pervaded, He can be attained only by complete and undivided devotion.
Now I will tell you the two paths that the soul may take after death. One is the path to liberation, where the soul does not return to earth, and the other is the path to rebirth, where he has to be born again.
Fire, light, daytime, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern path of the sun, those who depart from the world during these times, take the solar path, and these knowers of the Ultimate, go to the Ultimate, and do not return to the world, they are liberated.
Smoke, darkness, night time, the dark fortnight, and the six months of the southern path of the sun, persons departing from the world during these times, obtain the lunar path, and return to the world, they have to be born again.
These are the only two paths by which those who die leave this world. The path of light and knowledge, and the path of darkness and ignorance. One leads to liberation and the Supreme Absolute, while the other brings one back into the world.
The yogi who knows and understands both these paths is never deluded, is never in doubt. Therefore, Partha, always engage yourself in yoga and become a yogi.
After knowing all this, the yogi purified through the study of the Vedas and the Scriptures, through sacrifice, austerity and the giving of charity, goes beyond the fruits, goes beyond the rewards of all these, and attains the Final Goal, he attains liberation.
End of Chapter Eight
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om
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