Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 8

Path of the Eternal God

8.1Arjuna asks Krishna, whom he calls Purushottama (the highest being), to explain the terms he just used: the Eternal, knowledge of the Self, action, the physical world, and the gods.Arjuna
8.2Arjuna, calling Krishna Madhusudana (slayer of the demon Madhu), asks what sacrifice inside the body means, and how self-controlled people know Krishna at the moment of death.Arjuna
8.3Krishna answers: the Eternal is the supreme thing that can never be destroyed. Its true nature is the Self. Action is the creative power that brings beings into life.Krishna
8.4Krishna explains that the physical world is his part that changes and passes away. The gods relate to the energy that gives life. Sacrifice refers to Krishna himself living inside each body.Krishna
8.5Krishna says that anyone who thinks of him alone when they die goes to be one with him. There is no doubt about it.Krishna
8.6Krishna tells Arjuna, called Kaunteya (son of Kunti), that whatever a person thinks about most when they die is what they become after death.Krishna
8.7So Krishna tells Arjuna to remember him at all times and still do his duty and fight. If his mind and understanding stay fixed on Krishna, he will surely reach him.Krishna
8.8Krishna tells Arjuna, called Partha (son of Pritha), that by steady practice and meditation, with a mind that does not wander, a person reaches the supreme divine Spirit.Krishna
8.9Krishna begins to describe what to meditate on: the ancient, all-knowing ruler of everything, smaller than the smallest, holding up all things, beyond imagining, shining like the sun beyond darkness.Krishna
8.10Krishna continues: at death, the person who stays calm and devoted, and by yoga gathers their life-breath between the eyebrows, reaches this supreme divine Spirit.Krishna
8.11Krishna says he will briefly describe the path to the eternal reality. Scholars of the Vedas (the ancient holy texts) call it indestructible. Self-controlled people who are free of craving reach it, and people live a disciplined, celibate student life (Brahmacharya) because they want it.Krishna
8.12Krishna describes how a yogi prepares at the moment of death. He shuts the doors of the senses, holds his mind still in the heart, gathers his life-breath up into his head, and stays focused through yoga.Krishna
8.13Whoever leaves the body while saying "Om," the one sacred syllable that stands for the Eternal, and while thinking of Krishna, goes on the highest path.Krishna
8.14Krishna says that a person who thinks of him all the time, and never lets the mind drift to other things, reaches him easily. Arjuna is called Partha here, meaning son of Pritha.Krishna
8.15Great souls who reach Krishna are never born again into this world. This world is full of pain and does not last. They have reached the highest joy.Krishna
8.16Krishna says every world, even the heaven of Brahma the creator god, appears and then passes away. But a person who reaches Krishna is never born again.Krishna
8.17Krishna explains cosmic time. One day of Brahma, the creator, lasts a thousand great ages, and his night lasts just as long. People who understand this truly know what day and night mean.Krishna
8.18When Brahma's day begins, all visible things flow out of the hidden, unseen source. When his night comes, they all melt back into that unseen source.Krishna
8.19All living beings come into existence again and again. They dissolve when the cosmic night comes and appear again when the day comes. This happens by a fixed law, not by their own choice.Krishna
8.20Beyond that unseen source of the universe there is a higher unseen reality. It is eternal, and it is not destroyed even when all beings are destroyed.Krishna
8.21That higher unseen reality is called the Indestructible and the highest goal. Those who reach it never come back to this world. Krishna says it is his own supreme home.Krishna
8.22The highest Spirit can be reached through steady love and devotion to him alone. All beings live inside him, and he fills the whole universe.Krishna
8.23Krishna says he will now explain two kinds of times for leaving the body. Yogis who die at one time do not return to this world. Those who die at the other time do return.Krishna
8.24Krishna names the bright path: fire, light, daytime, the waxing moon, and the six months when the sun moves north. People who know the Eternal and die on this path go to the Eternal and do not return.Krishna
8.25Krishna names the dark path: smoke, night, the waning moon, and the six months when the sun moves south. A yogi who dies on this path reaches the light of the moon, and then he comes back to be born again.Krishna
8.26Light and darkness are the two lasting paths of the world. One leads to freedom with no return. The other leads back to birth again.Krishna
8.27A yogi who knows these two paths is never confused. So Krishna tells Arjuna to stay steady in yoga at all times.Krishna
8.28The Vedas promise rewards for rituals, hard self-discipline, and giving to charity. A yogi who understands this teaching goes beyond all those rewards and reaches the supreme, ancient home of God.Krishna