akṣarabrahmayoga
atha aṣṭamo'dhyāyaḥ
śloka 1
arjuna uvāca |
kiṃ tad brahma kimadhyātmaṃ kiṃ karma puruṣottama |
adhibhūtaṃ ca kiṃ proktamadhidaivaṃ kimucyate ||8-1||
Translation
Arjuna said: O Supreme Person! What is Brahman? What is Adhyatma? And what is Karma? What is called Adhibhuta? And what is called Adhidaiva?
śloka 2
adhiyajñaḥ kathaṃ ko'tra dehe'sminmadhusūdana |
prayāṇakāle ca kathaṃ jñeyo'si niyatātmabhiḥ ||8-2||
Translation
And O Madhusudana! Who is Adhiyajna here? And how does He abide in this body? And how are You known at the time of death by men of restrained mind?
śloka 3
śrībhagavānuvāca |
akṣaraṃ brahma paramaṃ svabhāvo'dhyātmamucyate |
bhūtabhāvodbhavakaro visargaḥ karmasaṃjñitaḥ ||8-3||
Translation
Shri Bhagavan said: The supreme imperishable Reality is Brahman; one's own nature is called Adhyatma; the creative force that produces the states of beings is known as Karma.
śloka 4
adhibhūtaṃ kṣaro bhāvaḥ puruṣaścādhidaivatam |
adhiyajño'hamevātra dehe dehabhṛtāṃ vara ||8-4||
Translation
O Arjuna, best among the embodied! The perishable element (the five great elements) is Adhibhuta, and the Purusha is Adhidaiva; in this body I alone am Adhiyajna.
śloka 5
antakāle ca māmeva smaranmuktvā kalevaram |
yaḥ prayāti sa madbhāvaṃ yāti nāstyatra saṃśayaḥ ||8-5||
Translation
And whoever at the time of death relinquishes the body remembering Me alone—he attains My nature; of this there is no doubt.
śloka 6
yaṃ yaṃ vāpi smaranbhāvaṃ tyajatyante kalevaram |
taṃ tamevaiti kaunteya sadā tadbhāvabhāvitaḥ ||8-6||
Translation
O Kaunteya! Whatever state one remembers when relinquishing the body at the time of death—to that state one always attains, as a result of that contemplation.
śloka 7
tasmātsarveṣu kāleṣu māmanusmara yudhya ca |
mayyarpitamanobuddhirmāmevaiṣyasyasaṃśayaḥ (orsaṃśayam) ||8-7||
Translation
Therefore, at all times remember Me constantly; and fight with mind and intellect offered to Me—undoubtedly you shall attain Me alone.
śloka 8
abhyāsayogayuktena cetasā nānyagāminā |
paramaṃ puruṣaṃ divyaṃ yāti pārthānucintayan ||8-8||
Translation
O Partha! The aspirant who constantly meditates with a mind that does not go elsewhere, united with the Yoga of practice, attains the supreme divine Person.
śloka 9 and 10
kaviṃ purāṇamanuśāsitāra-
maṇoraṇīyaṃsamanusmaredyaḥ |
sarvasya dhātāramacintyarūpa-
mādityavarṇaṃ tamasaḥ parastāt ||8-9||
prayāṇakāle manasā'calena
bhaktyā yukto yogabalena caiva |
bhruvormadhye prāṇamāveśya samyak
sa taṃ paraṃ puruṣamupaiti divyam ||8-10||
Translation
He who remembers the Reality that is all-knowing, ancient, the ruler of all, subtler than the subtle, the sustainer of all, of inconceivable form, resplendent like the sun, and beyond darkness—that aspirant, at the time of death, with the power of Yoga places the vital breath between the eyebrows and with steadfast mind full of devotion attains that supreme divine Person.
śloka 11
yadakṣaraṃ vedavido vadanti
viśanti yadyatayo vītarāgāḥ |
yadicchanto brahmacaryaṃ caranti
tatte padaṃ saṃgraheṇa pravakṣye ||8-11||
Translation
That state which the knowers of the Vedas call the Imperishable, into which the desireless ascetics enter, and desiring which they observe celibacy—that goal I shall declare to you briefly.
śloka 12 and 13
sarvadvārāṇi saṃyamya mano hṛdi nirudhya ca |
mūdhnyārdhāyātmanaḥ prāṇamāsthito yogadhāraṇām ||8-12||
omityekākṣaraṃ brahma vyāharanmāmanusmaran |
yaḥ prayāti tyajandehaṃ sa yāti paramāṃ gatim ||8-13||
Translation
Having restrained all the gates of the senses, fixed the mind in the heart, and placed the vital breath in the head, established in the Yoga of concentration—he who relinquishes the body while uttering the single syllable Om, which is Brahman, and remembering Me—attains the supreme goal.
śloka 14
ananyacetāḥ satataṃ yo māṃ smarati nityaśaḥ |
tasyāhaṃ sulabhaḥ pārtha nityayuktasya yoginaḥ ||8-14||
Translation
O Partha! For that man of single-minded devotion who remembers Me, I am easily attainable—that Yogi ever united with Me gains Me without difficulty.
śloka 15
māmupetya punarjanma duḥkhālayamaśāśvatam |
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṃsiddhiṃ paramāṃ gatāḥ ||8-15||
Translation
Having attained Me, the great souls who have reached the highest perfection do not take birth again in this transient abode of sorrow.
śloka 16
ābrahmabhuvanāllokāḥ punarāvartino'rjuna |
māmupetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na vidyate ||8-16||
Translation
O Arjuna! All beings up to the realm of Brahma are of a returning nature. But, O Kaunteya! having attained Me, there is no rebirth.
śloka 17
sahasrayugaparyantamaharyad brahmaṇo viduḥ |
rātriṃ yugasahasrāntāṃ te'horātravido janāḥ ||8-17||
Translation
Those who know the duration of Brahma's one day, which is a thousand years, and his one night of a thousand years—they are knowers of day and night.
śloka 18
avyaktād vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavantyaharāgame |
rātryāgame pralīyante tatraivāvyaktasaṃjñake ||8-18||
Translation
At the dawn of Brahma's day, the manifest world (of moving and unmoving beings) arises from the unmanifest; and at the coming of his night, it merges into that same unmanifest.
śloka 19
bhūtagrāmaḥ sa evāyaṃ bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate |
rātryāgame'vaśaḥ pārtha prabhavatyaharāgame ||8-19||
Translation
O Partha! This same multitude of beings, being compelled, arises again and again and dissolves. At the coming of night it merges, and at the dawn of day it becomes manifest.
śloka 20
parastasmāttu bhāvo'nyo'vyakto'vyaktātsanātanaḥ |
yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu na vinaśyati ||8-20||
Translation
But beyond that unmanifest there is another eternal unmanifest existence, which is not destroyed when all beings are destroyed.
śloka 21
avyakto'kṣara ityuktastamāhuḥ paramāṃ gatim |
yaṃ prāpya na nivartante taddhāma paramaṃ mama ||8-21||
Translation
That which is called the unmanifest Imperishable is the supreme goal. Having attained it, aspirants do not return; that is My supreme abode.
śloka 22
puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyastvananyayā |
yasyāntaḥsthāni bhūtāni yena sarvamidaṃ tatam ||8-22||
Translation
O Partha! That supreme Person in whom all beings abide and by whom this entire world is pervaded—He is attainable only through single-minded devotion.
śloka 23
yatra kāle tvanāvṛttimāvṛttiṃ caiva yoginaḥ |
prayātā yānti taṃ kālaṃ vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha ||8-23||
Translation
O best of the Bharatas! I shall tell you of the time and the path by which departing Yogis attain non-return, or return.
śloka 24
agnirjotirahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam |
tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahmavido janāḥ ||8-24||
Translation
The knowers of Brahman who depart after death by the path of fire, light, day, the bright fortnight, and the six months of the northern course—attain Brahman.
śloka 25
dhūmo rātristathā kṛṣṇaḥ ṣaṇmāsā dakṣiṇāyanam |
tatra cāndramasaṃ jyotiryogī prāpya nivartate ||8-25||
Translation
By the path of smoke, night, the dark fortnight, and the six months of the southern course, the Yogi attains the lunar light and returns to the world.
śloka 26
śuklakṛṣṇe gatī hyete jagataḥ śāśvate mate |
ekayā yātyanāvṛttimanyayāvartate punaḥ ||8-26||
Translation
These two paths of the world—the bright and the dark—are deemed eternal. By one (the bright) the aspirant attains non-return; by the other (the dark) he attains return.
śloka 27
naite sṛtī pārtha jānanyogī muhyati kaścana |
tasmātsarveṣu kāleṣu yogayukto bhavārjuna ||8-27||
Translation
O Partha! No Yogi who knows these two paths is deluded. Therefore, O Arjuna! be united with Yoga at all times.
śloka 28
vedeṣu yajñeṣu tapaḥsu caiva
dāneṣu yatpuṇyaphalaṃ pradiṣṭam |
atyeti tatsarvamidaṃ viditvā
yogī paraṃ sthānamupaiti cādyam ||8-28||
Translation
Knowing all this, the Yogi transcends the merit said to accrue from the study of the Vedas, sacrifice, austerity and charity, and attains the primordial, supreme abode.
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