Chapter 8 — Akshar Brahmn Yoga

Verse 1-2
🕉 Original Sanskrit Shloka

II Arjuna uvaacha II

kim tadbrahma kimadhyāt-maṁ kim karma puruşottama

adhibhūtam ch kim proktama-dhidaivam kimucyate


adhiyajñah katham ko'tra dehe'sminmadhusūdana

prayāņakāle ch kathaṁ jñeyo'si niyatātmabhiḥ

🕉 English Translation

Kaha tab yeh Arjun ne Bhagwan se,

Prabho! Kya hai 'brahmn' yeh batao mujhe.

'Karma 'kya, 'adhibhuta' kehte kise,

'Adhidaiva'kisko kaha apne.


Kya hai Adhiyagya Bhagwan kaho,

Rehta hai is deh mein kaise woh.

Jam jataa hai jinka mann aap mein,

Antim samay kaise jane tumhe.

📜 Translation English

Arjun queried-O Best amongst men! What is that Brahmn? What is Adhyatma? What is action? What has been called by the name of Adhibhuta? And what is called by the name of Adhidaiva?


O Madhusudan! Who is Adhiyagya here and how this entity dwells in this body? And how at the time of death are you to be known by self-controlled persons?

💬 Commentary English

Shrimad Bhagvad Gita is the divinely ideal scripture of the tradition of preceptor and the disciple. Why should it not be so? The preceptor Lord Shri Krishna being all-knowledge able all-powerful and a richly deserving disciple is Arjun! Lord Shri Krishna desires to unravel the most complicated of the complicated secrets relating to the welfare of life and Arjun too as a representative of mankind seems eager to raise queries side by side relating to any complicated mysteries confronting him so that it may become easily comprehensible, graspable. On observing the complexity of some words in the concluding verse of the seventh chapter Arjun raised questions before the Blessed Lord.

The chapter begins with this absolutely essential query of Arjun. Absolutely essential because on reading these words any person of ordinary intelligence may find himself in some difficulty. The Blessed Lord also did not desire to keep the Gita's sermon limited to the learned persons and intellectuals. That Gita's sermon should become an inspiration for the masses, and that Gita's sermon should be graspable by the intellect of all; maybe for this reason by divine inspiration Arjun has become at this moment the reason for this query. In the first verse itself Arjun has asked what Brahmn is? What is called by the name of action and with what intent have the words Adhibhuta and Adhidaiva been used? In the subsequent verse too the order of the queries of Arjun continues:

The readers of the Gita must be definitely feeling grateful to Arjun for raising these queries. Truly by raising such queries Arjun has done good turn to those devoted to the Gita. What is Adhiyagya and how does it reside in the body? It was essential that this issue should be resolved from the mouth of the holy Lord Himself so that there may remain no doubt about the same! For this reason Arjun raised this query! In the second half of the last verse of the seventh chapter the Blessed Lord said-'prayankale' 'pi ch mam te viduryuktacetasah'-

Me. In the last moments of life the persons who are harmonized with Me get to know

In this very spirit Arjun put forward this question that in the last moments how do the persons who are intent on you get to know you? In the following verse is given the relevant and logical answer to these very queries of Arjun:

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