Essence of Bhagavad Gita - Chapter-8

EIGHT: LIFE EVERLASTING

“Arjuna asked: O Lord of Lords! What is that which men call the Supreme Spirit, what is

man’s Spiritual Nature, and what is the Law? What is Matter and what is Divinity?

Who is it who rules the spirit sacrifice in many; and at the time of death how may those

who have learned self-control come to the knowledge of Thee?

The Lord Shri Krishna replied: The Supreme Spirit is the Highest Imperishable Self, and Its

Nature is spiritual consciousness. The worlds have been created and are supported by an

emanation from the Spirit which is called the Law.

Matter consists of the forms that perish; Divinity is the Supreme Self; and He who inspires

the spirit of sacrifice in man, O noblest of thy race, is I Myself, Who now stand in human

form before thee.

Whosoever at the time of death thinks only of Me, and thinking thus leaves the body and

goes forth, assuredly he will know Me.

On whatever sphere of being the mind of a man may be intent at the time of death, thither

he will go.

Therefore meditate always on Me, and fight; if thy mind and thy reason be fixed on Me, to

Me shalt thou surely come.

He whose mind does not wander, and who is engaged in constant meditation, attains the

Supreme Spirit.

Whoso meditates on the Omniscient, the Ancient, more minute than the atom, yet the

Ruler and Upholder of all, Unimaginable, Brilliant like the Sun, Beyond the reach of

darkness;

He who leaves the body with mind unmoved and filled with devotion, by the power of

his meditation gathering between his eyebrows his whole vital energy, attains the

Supreme.

Now I will speak briefly of the imperishable goal, proclaimed by those versed in the

scriptures, which the mystic attains when free from passion, and for which he is content to

undergo the vow of continence.

Closing the gates of the body, drawing the forces of his mind into the heart and by the

power of meditation concentrating his vital energy in the brain;

Repeating Om, the Symbol of Eternity, holding Me always in remembrance, he who thus

leaves his body and goes forth reaches the Spirit Supreme.

To him who thinks constantly of Me, and of nothing else, to such an ever-faithful devotee,

O Arjuna, am I ever accessible.

Coming thus unto Me, these great souls go no more to the misery and death of earthly life,

for they have gained perfection.

The worlds, with the whole realm of creation, come and go; but, O Arjuna, whoso comes

to Me, for him there is nor rebirth.

Those who understand the cosmic day and cosmic night know that one day of creation is a

thousand cycles, and that the night is of equal length.

At the dawning of that day all objects in manifestation stream forth from the Unmanifest,

and when evening falls they are dissolved into It again.

The same multitude of beings, which have lived on earth so often, all are dissolved as the

night of the universe approaches, to issue forth anew when morning breaks. Thus is it

ordained.

In truth, therefore, there is the Eternal Unmanifest, which is beyond and above the

Unmanifest Spirit of Creation, which is never destroyed when all these being perish.

The wise say that the Unmanifest and Indestructible is the highest goal of all; when once

That is reached, there is no return. That is My Blessed Home.

O Arjuna! That Highest God, in Whom all beings abide, and Who pervades the entire

universe, is reached only by wholehearted devotion.

[The following material (between the asterisks) is an example of what may be a `doctored’ inclusion.

It does not jibe with the rest of the material because it is not presented as metaphor and clearly

implies that worldly phenomena are spiritually determining. Maybe it was added by an individual

or individuals who were less cognizant than the originating author. Or maybe was ‘craftily’

inserted to function as a sort of litmus test – those who get `taken in’ by it may be recognized as not

having `spiritual discernment’.]

*Now I will tell thee, O Arjuna, of the times at which, if the mystics go forth, they do not

return, and at which they go forth only to return.

If knowing the Supreme Spirit the sage goes forth with fire and light, in the daytime, in the

fortnight of the waxing moon and in the six months before the Northern summer solstice,

he will attain the Supreme.

But if he departs in gloom, at night, during the fortnight of the waning moon and in the six

months before the Southern solstice, then he reaches but lunar light and he will be born

again.

These bright and dark paths out of the world have always existed. Whoso takes the

former, returns not; he who chooses the latter, returns.*

O Arjuna! The saint knowing these paths is not confused. Therefore meditate perpetually.

The sage who knows this passes beyond all merit that comes from the study of the

scriptures, from sacrifice, from austerities and charity, and reaches the Supreme Primeval

Abode.”

Thus, in the Holy Book the Bhagavad Gita, one of the Upanishads, in the Science of the Supreme

Spirit, in the Art of Self-Knowledge, in the Colloquy between the Divine Lord Shri Krishna and the

Prince Arjuna, stand the eight chapter, entitled: The Life Everlasting.