Kanda 8 - Hymns to Universal Principles

Swami Gambirananda did not comment on this sloka

O Madhusudana, how, and who, is the entity existing in the sacrifice here in this body? And at the time of death, how are You to be known by people of concentrated minds?

The Blessed Lord said The Immutable is the supreme Brahman; self-hood is said to the entity present in the individual plane. By action is meant the offerings which bring about the origin of the existence of things.

The which exists in the physical plane is the mutable entity, and what exists in the divine plane is the Person. O best among the embodied beings, I Myself am the entity that exists in the sacrifice in this body.

And at the time of death, anyone who departs by giving up the body while thinking of Me alone, he attains My state. There is no doubt about this.

O son of Kunti, thinking of any entity whichever it may be one gives up the body at the end, he attains that very one, having been always engrossed in its thought.

Therefore, think of Me at all times and fight. There is no doubt that by dedicating your mind and intellect to Me, you will attain Me alone.

O son of Prtha, by meditating with a mind which is engaged in the yoga of practice and which does not stray away to anything else, one reaches the supreme Person existing in the effulgent region.

He who meditates on the Omniscient, the Anceint, the Ruler, subtler than the subtle, the Ordainer of everything, of inconceivable form, effulgent like the sun, and beyond darkness-(he attains the supreme Person).

At the time of death, having fully fixed the Prana (vita force) between the enrows with an unswering mind, and being imbued with devotion as also the strength of concentration, he reaches that resplendent supreme person.

I shall speak to you briefly of that immutable Goal which the knowers of the Vedas declare, into which enter the deligent ones free from attachment, and aspiring for which people practise celibacy.

Having controlled all the passages, having confined the mind in the heart, and having fixed his own vital force in the head, (and then) continuing in the firmness in yoga;

He who departs by leaving the body while uttering the single syllable, viz Om, which is Brahman, and thinking of Me, he attains the supreme Goal.

O son of Prtha, to that yogi of constant concentration and single-minded attention, who remembers Me uninterruptedly and for long, I am easy of attainment.

As a result of reaching Me, the exalted ones who have attained the highest perfection do not get rirth which is an abode of sorrows and which is impermanent.

O Arjuna, all the worlds together with the world of Brahma are subject to return. But, O son of Kunti, there is no rirth after reaching Me.

Those poeple who are knowers of what day and night are, know the day of Brahma which ends in a thousand yugas [The four yugas (in the human worlds), viz Satya, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali are made up of 4,320,000 years. This period multiplied by a thousand constitutes one day of Brahma. His night also extends over an eal period. See M.S. and V.S.A.], and His night which ends in a thousand yugas.

With the coming of day all manifested things emerge from the Unmanifest and when night comes they merge in that itself which is called the Unmanifested.

O son of Prtha, after being born again and again, that very multitude of beings disappears in spite of itself at the approach of night. It comes to life at the approach of day.

But distinct from that Unmanifested is the other eternal unmainfest Reality, who does not get destroyed when all beings get destroyed.

He who has been mentioned as the Unmanifested, the Immutable, they call Him the supreme Goal. That is the supreme abode of Mine, reaching which they do not return.

O son of Prtha, that supreme Person-in whom are included (all) the beings and by whom all this is pervaded-is, indeed, reached through one-pointed devotion.

O best of the Bharata dynasty, I shall now speak of that time by departing at which the yogis attain the State of Non-return, and also (of the time by departing at which they attain) the State of Return.

Fire, light, daytime, the birght forrnight, the six months of the Northern solstice-by following this Path, persons who are knowers of Brahman attain Brahman when they die.

Smoke, night, as also the dark fortnight and the six months of the Southern solstice-following this Path the yogi having reached the lunar light, returns.

These two courses of the world, which are white and black, are verily considered eternal. By the one a man goes to the State of Non-return; by the other he returns again.

O son of Prtha, no yogi [One steadfast in meditation.) whosoever has known these two courses becomes deluded. Therefore, O Arjuna, be you steadfast in yoga at all times.

Having known this, the yogi transcends all those results of rigtheous deeds that are declared with regard to the Vedas, sacrifices, austerities and also charities, and he reaches the primordial supreme State.