Bhagavad-gita As It Is - Macmillan 1972 Edition -- Prabhupada Books (63 page)

Bg 8.6

TEXT 6

TEXT

yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ

tyajaty ante kalevaram

taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya

sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ

SYNONYMS

yam yam-
whatever;
vā
-either;
api-
also;
smaran-
remembering;
bhāvam-
nature;
tyajati-
give up;
ante-
at the end;
kalevaram-
this body;
tam tam-
similar;
eva-
certainly;
eti-
gets;
kaunteya
-O son of Kuntī;
sadā
-always;
tat
-that;
bhāva-
state of being;
bhāvitaḥ-
remembering.

TRANSLATION

Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.

PURPORT

The process of changing one's nature at the critical moment of death is here explained. How can one die in the proper state of mind? Mahārāja Bharata thought of a deer at the time of death and so was transferred to that form of life. However, as a deer, Mahārāja Bharata could remember his past activities. Of course the cumulative effect of the thoughts and actions of one's life influences one's thoughts at the moment of death; therefore the actions of this life determine one's future state of being. If one is transcendentally absorbed in Kṛṣṇa's service,then his next body will be transcendental (spiritual), not physical. Therefore the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa is the best process for successfully changing one's state of being to transcendental life.

Bg 8.7

TEXT 7

TEXT

tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu

mām anusmara yudhya ca

mayy arpita-mano-buddhir

mām evaiṣyasy asaṁśayaḥ

SYNONYMS

tasmāt-
therefore;
sarveṣu-
always;
kāleṣu-
time;
mām-
unto Me;
anusmara-
go on remembering;
yudhya-
fight;
ca-
also;
mayi-
unto Me;
arpita-
surrender;
manaḥ-
mind;
buddhiḥ-
intellect;
mām-
unto Me;
eva-
surely;
eṣyasi-
will attain;
asaṁśayaḥ-
beyond a doubt.

TRANSLATION

Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Kṛṣṇa and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.

PURPORT

This instruction to Arjuna is very important for all men engaged in material activities. The Lord does not say that one should give up his prescribed duties or engagements. One can continue them and at the same time think of Kṛṣṇa by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. This will free one from material contamination and engage the mind and intelligence in Kṛṣṇa. By chanting Kṛṣṇa's names, one will be transferred to the supreme planet, Kṛṣṇaloka, without a doubt.

Bg 8.8

TEXT 8

TEXT

abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena

cetasā nānya-gāminā

paramaṁ puruṣaṁ divyaṁ

yāti pārthānucintayan

SYNONYMS

abhyāsa-
practice;
yoga-yuktena-
being engaged in meditation;
cetasā-
by the mind and intelligence;
na anya-gāminā-
without being deviated;
paramam-
the Supreme;
puruṣam-
Personality of Godhead;
divyam-
transcendental;
yāti-
achieves;
pārtha
-O son of Pṛthā;
anucintayan-
constantly thinking of.

TRANSLATION

He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Pārtha [Arjuna], is sure to reach Me.

PURPORT

In this verse Lord Kṛṣṇa stresses the importance of remembering Him. One's memory of Kṛṣṇa is revived by chanting the
mahāmantra,
Hare Kṛṣṇa. By this practice of chanting and hearing the sound vibration of the Supreme Lord, one's ear, tongue and mind are engaged. This mystic meditation is very easy to practice, and it helps one attain the Supreme Lord.
Puruṣam
means enjoyer. Although living entities belong to the marginal energy of the Supreme Lord, they are in material contamination. They think themselves enjoyers, but they are not the supreme enjoyer. Here it is clearly stated that the supreme enjoyer is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His different manifestations and plenary expansions as Nārāyaṇa, Vāsudeva, etc.

The devotees can constantly think of the object of worship, the Supreme Lord, in any of His features, Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, etc., by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. This practice will purify him, and at the end of his life, due to his constant chanting, he will be transferred to the kingdom of God.
Yoga
practice is meditation on the Supersoul within; similarly, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa one fixes his mind always on the Supreme Lord. The mind is fickle, and therefore it is necessary to engage the mind by force to think of Kṛṣṇa. One example often given is that of the caterpillar that thinks of becoming a butterfly and so is transformed into a butterfly in the same life. Similarly, if we constantly think of Kṛṣṇa, it is certain that at the end of our lives we shall have the same bodily constitution as Kṛṣṇa.

Bg 8.9

TEXT 9

TEXT

kaviṁ purāṇam anuśāsitāram

aṇor aṇīyāṁsam anusmared yaḥ

sarvasya dhātāram acintya-rūpam

āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt

SYNONYMS

kavim-
one who knows everything;
purāṇam
-the oldest;
anuśāsitāram-
the controller;
aṇoḥ-
of the atom;
aṇīyāṁsam
-smaller than;
anusmaret
-always thinking;
yaḥ
-one who;
sarvasya
-of everything;
dhātāram-
maintainer;
acintya
-inconceivable;
rūpam
-form;
āditya-varṇam-
illuminated like the sun;
tamasaḥ
-of the darkness;
parastāt
-transcendental.

TRANSLATION

One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun and, being transcendental, is beyond this material nature.

PURPORT

The process of thinking of the Supreme is mentioned in this verse. The foremost point is that He is not impersonal or void. One cannot meditate on something impersonal or void. That is very difficult. The process of thinking of Kṛṣṇa, however, is very easy and is factually stated herein. First of all, He is
puruṣa,
spiritual, Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, and is described herein as
kavim;
that is, He knows past, present and future and therefore knows everything. He is the oldest personality because He is the origin of everything; everything is born out of Him. He is also the supreme controller of the universe, maintainer and instructor of humanity. He is smaller than the smallest. The living entity is one 10,000th part of the tip of a hair, but the Lord is so inconceivably small that He enters into the heart of this particle. Therefore He is called smaller than the smallest. As the Supreme, He can enter into the atom and into the heart of the smallest and control him as the Supersoul. Although so small, He is still all-pervading and is maintaining everything. By Him all these planetary systems are sustained. We often wonder how these big planets are floating in the air. It is stated here that the Supreme Lord, by His inconceivable energy, is sustaining all these big planets and systems of galaxies. The word
acintya
(inconceivable) is very significant in this connection. God's energy is beyond our conception, beyond our thinking jurisdiction, and is therefore called inconceivable
(acintya).
Who can argue this point? He pervades this material world and yet is beyond it. We cannot even comprehend this material world, which is insignificant compared to the spiritual world-so how can we comprehend what is beyond?
Acintya
means that which is beyond this material world, that which our argument, logic and philosophical speculation cannot touch, that which is inconceivable. Therefore intelligent persons, avoiding useless argument and speculation, should accept what is stated in scriptures like the
Vedas, Gītā,
and
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
and follow the principles they set down. This will lead one to understanding.

Bg 8.10

TEXT 10

TEXT

prayāṇa-kāle manasācalena

bhaktyā yukto yoga-balena caiva

bhruvor madhye prāṇam āveśya samyak

sa taṁ paraṁ puruṣam upaiti divyam

SYNONYMS

prayāṇa-kāle-
at the time of death;
manasā-
by the mind;
acalena-
without being deviated;
bhaktyā-
in full devotion;
yuktaḥ-
engaged;
yoga-balena-
by the power of mystic
yoga; ca-
also;
eva-
certainly;
bhruvoḥ-
between the two eyebrows;
madhye-
in;
prāṇam-
the life air;
āveśya-
establishing;
samyak-
completely;
saḥ-
he;
tam
-that;
param
-transcendental;
puruṣam
-Personality of Godhead;
upaiti-
achieves;
divyam-
in the spiritual kingdom.

TRANSLATION

One who, at the time of death, fixes his life air between the eyebrows and in full devotion engages himself in remembering the Supreme Lord, will certainly attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT

In this verse it is clearly stated that at the time of death the mind must be fixed in devotion on the Supreme Godhead. For those practiced in
yoga
, it is recommended that they raise the life force between the eyebrows, but for a pure devotee who does not practice such
yoga
, the mind should always be engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that at death he can remember the Supreme by His grace. This is explained in verse fourteen.

The particular use of the word
yoga-balena
is significant in this verse because without practice of
yoga
one cannot come to this transcendental state of being at the time of death. One cannot suddenly remember the Supreme Lord at death unless he is practiced in some
yoga
system, especially the system of
bhakti-yoga.
Since one's mind at death is very disturbed, one should practice transcendence through
yoga
during one's life.

Bg 8.11

TEXT 11

TEXT

yad akṣaraṁ veda-vido vadanti

viśanti yad yatayo vīta-rāgāḥ

yad icchanto brahmacaryaṁ caranti

tat te padaṁ saṅgraheṇa pravakṣye

SYNONYMS

yat-
that which;
akṣaram-
inexhaustible;
veda-vidaḥ-
a person conversant with the
Vedas; vadanti-
say;
viśanti-
enters;
yat-
in which;
yatayaḥ-
great sages;
vīta-rāgāh-
in the renounced order of life;
yat-
that which;
icchantaḥ-
desiring;
brahmacaryam-
celibacy;
caranti-
practices;
tat-
that;
te-
unto you;
padam-
situation;
saṅgraheṇa-
in summary;
pravakṣye-
I shall explain.

TRANSLATION

Persons learned in the Vedas, who utter omkāra and who are great sages in the renounced order, enter into Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices celibacy. I shall now explain to you this process by which one may attain salvation.

PURPORT

Lord Kṛṣṇa explains that Brahman, although one without a second, has different manifestations and features. For the impersonalists, the syllable
om
is identical with Brahman. Kṛṣṇa here explains the impersonal Brahman in which the renounced order of sages enter.

In the Vedic system of knowledge, students, from the very beginning, are taught to vibrate
om
and learn of the ultimate impersonal Brahman by living with the spiritual master in complete celibacy. In this way they realize two of Brahman's features. This practice is very essential for the student's advancement in spiritual life, but at the moment such
brahmacārī
(unmarried celibate) life is not at all possible. The social construction of the world has changed so much that there is no possibility of one's practicing celibacy from the beginning of student life. Throughout the world there are many institutions for different departments of knowledge, but there is no recognized institution where students can be educated in the
brahmacārī
principles. Unless one practices celibacy, advancement in spiritual life is very difficult. Therefore Lord Caitanya has announced, according to the scriptural injunctions for this age of Kali, that no process of realizing the Supreme is possible except the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

Bg 8.12

TEXT 12

TEXT