Chapter 8

In this chapter, Shree Krishna briefly describes several significant concepts and terms that the Upanishads expound in detail. He also explains what decides the destination of the soul after death. He says that if we remember God at the time of death, we can definitely attain Him. Therefore, alongside doing our daily works, we must always practice thinking of God. We can do this by thinking of His Qualities, Attributes, Virtues, etc. A persistent yogic meditation upon God by chanting His Names is also a good practice. Through exclusive devotion, when our mind is perfectly absorbed in Him, we will elevate from the material dimension to the spiritual realm. Shree Krishna then talks about the various abodes in the material realm and the cycle of creation. He further explains how the multitudes of beings manifest on these abodes, and at the time of dissolution, everything absorbs back into Him. However, the divine Abode of God is untouched by this cycle of creation and dissolution. Those who progress on the path of light finally reach the divine abode and never return to the material world. Whereas those fallen souls who tread the path of darkness endlessly keep transmigrating in the cycle of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

Verse 1-2

Arjuna said, "What is Brahman? What is Adhyatma? What is action, O best among men? What is Adhibhuta declared to be? And, what is Adhidaiva said to be?" Who and how is Adhiyajna here in this body, O destroyer of Madhu? And how, at the time of death, are You to be known by the self-controlled?

Verse 3

The Blessed Lord said, "Brahman is the Imperishable, the Supreme; its essential nature is called Self-knowledge; the offering (to the gods) that causes the existence and manifestation of beings and sustains them is called action."

Verse 4

Adhibhuta—knowledge of the elements—pertains to My perishable nature, and the Purusha, or the Soul, is the Adhidaiva; I alone am the Adhiyajna here in this body, O best among the embodied.

Verse 5

And whoever, leaving their body, goes forth remembering Me alone at the time of death, they will attain My Being; there is no doubt about this.

Verse 6

Whoever at the end leaves the body, thinking of any being, to that being only does he go, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), due to his constant thought of that being.

Verse 7

Therefore, at all times, remember Me only and fight. With your mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will undoubtedly come to Me alone.

Verse 8

With the mind not moving towards any other thing, made steadfast through the practice of habitual meditation, and constantly meditating, one goes to the Supreme Person, the Resplendent, O Arjuna.

Verse 9-10

Whosoever meditates on the Omniscient, the Ancient, the Ruler of the whole world, minuter than an atom, the supporter of all, of inconceivable form, effulgent like the sun and beyond the darkness of ignorance. At the time of death, with an unwavering mind, endowed with devotion, by the power of Yoga, fixing the whole life-breath in the middle of the two eyebrows, he reaches that resplendent Supreme Person.

Verse 11

That which is declared to be Imperishable by those who know the Vedas, that which the self-controlled (ascetics or Sannyasins) and passion-free enter, that goal, desiring which celibacy is practised, I will declare to thee in brief.

Verse 12

Having closed all the gates, confined the mind in the heart, and fixed the life-breath in the head, engage in the practice of concentration.

Verse 13

Uttering the one-syllabled Om, the Brahman, and remembering Me, he who departs, leaving the body, attains the Supreme Goal.

Verse 14

I am easily attainable by that ever-steadfast yogi who constantly and daily remembers me for a long time, not thinking of anything else with a single-minded or one-pointed focus, O Partha.

Verse 15

Having attained Me, these great souls do not take birth again here—a place of pain and impermanence—but have reached the highest perfection of liberation.

Verse 16

All the worlds, including the world of Brahma, are subject to return again, O Arjuna; but he who reaches Me, O son of Kunti, has no rebirth.

Verse 17

Those who know the day of Brahma, which lasts a thousand Yugas, and the night, which also lasts a thousand Yugas, know day and night.

Verse 18

From the Unmanifested, all the manifested worlds proceed upon the arrival of the 'day'; upon the arrival of the 'night', they dissolve indeed into that which is known as the Unmanifested.

Verse 19

This same multitude of beings, being born again and again, helplessly dissolves, O Arjuna, into the Unmanifested at the coming of the night and comes forth at the coming of the day.

Verse 20

But verily, there exists higher than this Unmanifested, another Unmanifested Eternal, which is not destroyed even when all beings are destroyed.

Verse 21

What is known as the Unmanifested and the Imperishable, That is said to be the highest goal. Those who reach It do not return (to this Samsara). That is My supreme abode (place or state).

Verse 22

That highest Purusha, O Arjuna, is attainable by unswerving devotion to Him alone, within Whom all beings dwell and by Whom all this is pervaded.

Verse 23-26

Now I will tell you, O chief of the Bharatas, the times of departure at which the Yogis will return or not return. Fire, light, daytime, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern path of the sun (the northern solstice) departing, then men who know Brahman go to Brahman. Attaining the lunar light through smoke, night time, the dark fortnight, and the six months of the southern path of the sun (the southern solstice), the yogi returns. The bright and dark paths of the world are thought to be eternal; one leads to no return, and the other leads to return.

Verse 27

Knowing these paths, O Arjuna, no yogi is deluded; therefore, at all times, be steadfast in yoga.

Verse 28

Whatever fruit of merit is declared (in the scriptures) to accrue from (the study of) the Vedas, (the performance of) sacrifices, (the practice of) austerities, and gifts, beyond all this goes the Yogi, having known this; and he attains to the Supreme, Primeval (first or ancient) Abode.