अर्जुन उवाच |
arjuna uvāca |
Arjuna asks Krishna seven fundamental questions: What is Brahman? What is Adhyatma (the Self)? What is Karma (action)? What is Adhibhuta (the perishable realm)? And what is Adhidaiva (the cosmic divine principle)? These questions arise from Krishna's teachings at the end of Chapter 7, where He mentioned these terms without fully explaining them.
अर्जुन उवाच |
arjuna uvāca |
Arjuna continues with two more questions: Who is the Adhiyajna (the Lord of sacrifice) and how does He dwell in the body? And crucially, how can those with disciplined minds know You at the time of death? This final question about death becomes the central theme of the entire chapter.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavān uvāca |
Krishna begins answering Arjuna's seven questions. Brahman is the Supreme Imperishable (Akshara). Adhyatma is one's own nature or inherent self (svabhava). Karma is the creative force (visarga) that brings beings into existence — the act of offering that sets the cycle of birth and manifestation in motion.
अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम् |
adhibhūtaṃ kṣaro bhāvaḥ puruṣaś cādhidaivatam |
Krishna completes the answers: Adhibhuta (the perishable realm) is the ever-changing material nature. Adhidaiva (the cosmic divine) is the Purusha, the cosmic spirit. And the Adhiyajna (Lord of sacrifice) is none other than Krishna Himself, dwelling in the body. This stunning declaration means God is present in every embodied being as the witness and recipient of all sacrificial action.
अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम् |
antakāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram |
Krishna declares one of the Gita's most famous teachings: whoever remembers Me alone at the time of death, leaving the body, attains My nature — of this there is no doubt. The last thought at death determines the soul's destination. This is stated with absolute certainty: 'nasty atra samshayah' — there is no doubt here whatsoever.
यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम् |
yaṃ yaṃ vāpi smaran bhāvaṃ tyajaty ante kalevaram |
Krishna states the universal principle: whatever state of being one remembers when leaving the body at death, that very state one attains, O son of Kunti, being always absorbed in that thought. This generalizes the previous verse — it is not only thinking of God that determines destiny, but whatever one's dominant mental state is at the final moment.
तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च |
tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca |
Therefore, at all times remember Me and fight. With your mind and intellect offered to Me, you shall surely come to Me alone — there is no doubt. This is Krishna's practical instruction: do not renounce action but perform it with constant divine remembrance. The word 'yudhya' (fight) makes this unmistakably action-oriented — spirituality is not withdrawal but engaged living with God-consciousness.
अभ्यासयोगयुक्तेन चेतसा नान्यगामिना |
abhyāsayogayuktena cetasā nānyagāminā |
With the mind disciplined by the practice of yoga, not wandering to anything else, one who constantly meditates reaches the Supreme Divine Person, O Partha. The key phrase is 'abhyasa-yoga-yuktena' — yoked through the yoga of practice. And 'na anya-gaminaa' — not going to anything else, meaning single-pointed focus.
कविं पुराणमनुशासितारमणोरणीयांसमनुस्मरेद्यः |
kaviṃ purāṇam anuśāsitāram aṇor aṇīyāṃsam anusmared yaḥ |
One should meditate on the Supreme as the omniscient (kavi), the most ancient (purana), the ruler of all (anushasitara), subtler than the subtlest (anor aniyamsam), the sustainer of all (sarvasya dhatara), whose form is inconceivable (achintya-rupam), self-luminous like the sun (aditya-varnam), and beyond all darkness (tamasah parastat).
प्रयाणकाले मनसाचलेन भक्त्या युक्तो योगबलेन चैव |
prayāṇakāle manasācalena bhaktyā yukto yogabalena caiva |
At the time of death, with an unwavering mind, endowed with devotion and the power of yoga, fixing the life-breath (prana) completely between the eyebrows, one attains the Supreme Divine Person. This verse provides the yogic technique: combine devotion (bhakti), yogic discipline (yoga-bala), an unmoving mind, and the specific practice of directing prana to the ajna chakra (between the eyebrows).
यदक्षरं वेदविदो वदन्ति विशन्ति यद्यतयो वीतरागाः |
yad akṣaraṃ vedavido vadanti viśanti yad yatayo vītarāgāḥ |
That which the knowers of the Vedas call the Imperishable (Akshara), which the self-controlled and passion-free ascetics enter, and desiring which seekers practice brahmacharya (celibacy and spiritual discipline) — that goal I shall briefly declare to you. Krishna promises to reveal the supreme destination that all spiritual paths ultimately aim for.
सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च |
sarvadvārāṇi saṃyamya mano hṛdi nirudhya ca |
Closing all the gates of the body (the senses), confining the mind in the heart, fixing one's own life-breath (prana) in the head, and established in yogic concentration — this verse describes the first steps of the yogic technique for conscious departure at death. The 'gates' are the sense organs; closing them means withdrawing attention from all external stimuli.
ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन् |
om ity ekākṣaraṃ brahma vyāharan mām anusmaran |
Uttering the single-syllable OM, which is Brahman, and remembering Me, one who departs leaving the body attains the supreme goal. OM is identified as both the verbal expression of Brahman and the vehicle for divine remembrance at the moment of death. The verse combines mantra practice with devotional remembrance as the complete method.
अनन्यचेताः सततं यो मां स्मरति नित्यशः |
ananyacetāḥ satataṃ yo māṃ smarati nityaśaḥ |
For the yogi who constantly remembers Me with an undivided mind, who is always engaged in devotion, I am easy to attain, O Partha. This is one of the most intimate and encouraging verses in the Gita: Krishna does not say 'difficult to reach through great effort' but 'sulabha' — easy, accessible, attainable — for the one who loves and remembers without division.
मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् |
mām upetya punarjanma duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam |
Having attained Me, the great souls are never born again in this transient world which is full of suffering. They have reached the highest perfection. Krishna describes the material world starkly: 'duhkhalayam' — an abode of sorrow, and 'ashashvatam' — impermanent. Those who reach Him transcend both suffering and impermanence forever.
आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन |
ābrahmabhuvanāl lokāḥ punarāvartino'rjuna |
From the realm of Brahma downward, all worlds are subject to return, O Arjuna. But having attained Me, O son of Kunti, there is no rebirth. Even the highest heaven — Brahmaloka, the abode of the creator god Brahma — is temporary. Only reaching Krishna's abode provides permanent liberation. This demolishes all lesser spiritual ambitions.
सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद्ब्रह्मणो विदुः |
sahasrayugaparyantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ |
Those who know that Brahma's day lasts a thousand yugas and Brahma's night lasts a thousand yugas — they are the knowers of day and night. This verse introduces the cosmic time scale: one day of Brahma (the creator god) equals 4.32 billion human years, and his night is equally long. The entire manifest universe appears and disappears within these cosmic days and nights.
अव्यक्ताद्व्यक्तयः सर्वाः प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे |
avyaktād vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavanty aharāgame |
At the coming of Brahma's day, all manifest beings emerge from the unmanifest. At the coming of his night, they dissolve back into that same unmanifest. This describes the cosmic breathing: creation (srishti) at the dawn of Brahma's day and dissolution (pralaya) at his night, with beings emerging from and returning to the unmanifest (avyakta) state cyclically.
भूतग्रामः स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते |
bhūtagrāmaḥ sa evāyaṃ bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate |
This same multitude of beings, coming into existence again and again, is helplessly dissolved at the coming of night, O Partha, and comes forth again at the dawn. The key word is 'avashah' — helplessly, without choice. Beings caught in the cycle have no control over their manifestation and dissolution; they are carried along by the cosmic tide like leaves in a flood.
परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः |
paras tasmāt tu bhāvo'nyo'vyakto'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ |
But beyond that unmanifest, there is another eternal unmanifest Being, who does not perish when all beings perish. This is one of the Gita's most profound metaphysical statements: beyond the unmanifest prakriti from which beings emerge and into which they dissolve, there exists a higher eternal reality that remains untouched even when everything else is destroyed.
अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम् |
avyakto'kṣara ityuktas tam āhuḥ paramāṃ gatim |
That unmanifest and imperishable is said to be the supreme goal. Those who attain it never return. That is My supreme abode. Krishna explicitly identifies the eternal unmanifest described in the previous verse as His own supreme abode (paramam dhama) — the ultimate destination from which there is no return to the cycle of birth and death.
पुरुषः स परः पार्थ भक्त्या लभ्यस्त्वनन्यया |
puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyas tv ananyayā |
That Supreme Person, O Partha, is attainable by exclusive devotion — He within whom all beings exist, by whom all this is pervaded. Krishna states the method plainly: the Supreme Person who contains all beings and pervades everything is reached through ananya bhakti — single-minded, exclusive devotion. Not through rituals alone, not through knowledge alone, but through wholehearted devotion.
यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः |
yatra kāle tv anāvṛttim āvṛttiṃ caiva yoginaḥ |
Now I shall tell you, O best of the Bharatas, the times at which yogis who depart achieve no return or return. Krishna introduces the teaching of the two paths — the path of light (no return to birth) and the path of darkness (return to birth) — which depends on the time and conditions of the yogi's departure from the body.
अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् |
agnir jyotir ahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam |
Fire, light, daytime, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern solstice — departing by these, the knowers of Brahman go to Brahman. This describes the Devayana or 'path of the gods,' also called the path of light. Those with Brahman-knowledge who depart under these luminous conditions attain Brahman and do not return.
धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम् |
dhūmo rātris tathā kṛṣṇaḥ ṣaṇmāsā dakṣiṇāyanam |
Smoke, night, the dark fortnight, the six months of the southern solstice — attaining the lunar light by these, the yogi returns. This describes the Pitriyana or 'path of the ancestors,' also called the path of darkness or smoke. The practitioner who departs under these conditions reaches the moon (heavenly realms) but eventually returns to the cycle of birth and death.
शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते |
śuklakṛṣṇe gatī hy ete jagataḥ śāśvate mate |
These two paths — the bright and the dark — are considered eternal for this world. By one, a person goes to non-return; by the other, one returns again. Krishna summarizes: the two paths of light and darkness are eternal laws governing the soul's post-mortem journey. The bright path leads to permanent liberation; the dark path leads to temporary heavenly reward followed by return.
नैते सृती पार्थ जानन्योगी मुह्यति कश्चन |
naite sṛtī pārtha jānan yogī muhyati kaścana |
Knowing these two paths, O Partha, no yogi is ever deluded. Therefore, at all times be established in yoga, O Arjuna. The yogi who understands both paths — and their consequences — is never confused about priorities. Krishna's practical conclusion is not 'calculate the right time to die' but rather 'be always established in yoga,' making the timing irrelevant.
वेदेषु यज्ञेषु तपःसु चैव दानेषु यत्पुण्यफलं प्रदिष्टम् |
vedeṣu yajñeṣu tapaḥsu caiva dāneṣu yat puṇyaphalaṃ pradiṣṭam |
The yogi who knows all this surpasses whatever merit is promised through studying the Vedas, performing sacrifices, practicing austerities, and giving charity — and attains the supreme, primordial abode. This chapter's closing verse declares that the knowledge contained in this teaching exceeds the cumulative merit of all conventional religious practices. The yogi who understands and practices these truths goes beyond all ordinary spiritual attainments.