Bhagavad Gita with Commentaries of Shankara | Discourse 8 verse 1-13

EIGHTH DISCOURSE.

ABHYĀSA-YOGA.

The seven things to be realised by meditation.

In vii 29, 30 such things have been mentioned by the Lord as have given occasion to Arjuna to put a question. Accordingly Arjuna proceeds to ask thus:

Shankara's commentary:

The Lord proceeds to answer these questions in their order:

Shankara's commentary:

Brahman is the Akṣara, the Imperishable, the Supreme Self (Paramatman); the śruti says “O Gārgī, it is at the command of this Akṣara, the Imperishable Paramātman, that heaven and earth remain, held in their places.” (Bri. Upanishad, 3-8-9).

‘Akṣara’ does not here mean the syllable “Om”; for, the latter is subsequently specified thus:—“Uttering the syllable ‘Om,’ the Brahman” (viii. 13). And the epithet ‘supreme’ applies better to Brahman, the Imperishable, who transcends all, (than to the syllable ‘Om’).

The same Supreme Brahman existing as the Ego, as the Innermost Self, as the Pratyagātman, in every individual body, is said to be Adhyātma:

that which first shows itself as the Innermost Self in the body and turns out in the end to be identical with the Supreme Reality, the Brahman, is known by the term ‘Adhyātma ’.

The sacrificial act which consists in offering cooked rice, cakes and the like to the Gods (Devatās), and which causes the origin of all creatures, is known by the term ‘Karma’;

for, it forms the seed as it were of all beings; it is in virtue of this act that all beings, animate and inanimate, come into existence, after passing through rain and other regions of life.

Shankara's commentary:

The Adhibhuta is that which gathers itself round the whole animated creation and is composed of the whole perishable existence, i. e., of everything that has birth.

Purusha is, literally, that by which everything is filled, (prī=to fill) or that which lies in the body (pur), i. e., the Hiraṇyagarbha, the Universal Soul abiding in the Sun (Āditya), the Sustainer and the Stimulator of the sense - organs of all living beings.

The Adhiyajna is He who identifies himself with all acts of sacrifice, the Deity named Vishṇu; the śruti says: “Yajña (Sacrifice) is verily Vishṇu.” (Taittirīya-Saṁhitā, 1-7-4) He is verily Myself. I am the Deity concerned with all acts of sacrifice in the body.

—As an act of sacrifice (yajña) has to be performed by the body, it is said to be inherent in it, and as such it may be said to rest in the body.

Shankara's commentary:

Me: Vishṇu, the Supreme Lord. My being: My real being as Vishṇu. In this: as to whether he reaches or not.

Constant meditation of the Divine is necessary.

Not to Me alone does this rule apply; but also:

Shankara's commentary:

Being: a particular Devatā or Deity. At the end: at the time of life’s departure. Him alone: Only the Being thought of, and no other. Dwelt upon: constantly meditated.

Because thus the final thought determines the character of the body to be attained next,

Shankara's commentary:

Meditate: According to the Teaching (śāstra). Fight : do thou perform thy proper duty of fighting. Me: Vāsudeva. Come to Me: as meditated upon by thee.

The Divine Being to be meditated upon.

Moreover,

Shankara's commentary:

Practice consists in the repetition of one and the same idea, uninterrupted by any other thought, with reference to Me, the sole object of your thought. Such a practice is itself said to be Yoga.

With the mind thus solely engaged in Yoga, not passing over to any other object, the Yogin who meditates according to the teaching of the scripture and of the teacher—of the śāstra and āchārya—reaches the Purusha, the Transcendental Being in the Solar Orb.

What sort of Purusha does he reach?

—Listen:

Shankara's commentary:

Sage: the Omniscient. The Ruler: of the whole world. Dispenser: who allots to all living beings actions and their results in all their variety.

It is very difficult for anybody to conceive of His form though it exists.

Like the Sun, He is glorious with the splendour of His Eternal Intelligence (Nitya-Chaitanya) which is beyond the darkness of delusion or nescience (Ajñāna).

The strength of Yoga consists in the steadiness of mind which results from the after-effects of the (constant practice of) samādhi.

At first the mind (chitta) is subdued in the lotus of the heart (hṛdaya-puṇḍarīka);

then, by means of the up-going nādi (sushumnā), after gradually obtaining control over the several stages of matter (earth and the other four rudimental elements), the life-breath of the heart is drawn up and carefully fixed between the eye-brows.

By this means the wise man, the Yogin, reaches the Supreme Purusha, who is resplendent.

Meditation of the Divine in the Prāṇavā.

The Lord now assigns a name to that Brahman whom the Yogin wishes to reach by means to be pointed out again in the sequel, and who will be now described in such terms as ‘being declared by the knowers of the Veda,’ etc.:

Shankara's commentary:

Those who understand the teaching of the Veda declare the Imperishable as devoid of any attribute whatsoever. The śruti says:

“This verily is that (which you wished to know of), the Imperishable, O Gārgī, as the brāhmaṇas (the knowers of the Brahman) declare, “not gross, not subtle’” etc. (Bri. Upa. 3-8-8.)

The sannyāsins, ever con­trolling themselves, free from passion, enter the Imperishable, on attaining to right knowledge.

And desiring to know the Imperishable they enter on godly life (Brahma­charya) with a Guru. Of That Goal which is called Akṣara, the Imperishable, I shall tell thee with brevity.

Having started with the words “ He who verily among men meditates on the syllable ‘Om’ till death, what region will he thereby attain to? ”

he (Pippalāda) said to him (Satyakāma):

“O Satyakāma, this, the Brahman, the Higher and the Lower, is the syllable ‘Om’.” (Praśna-Upanishad, 5—1, 2);

and it was subsequently said:

“He who will meditate on the Supreme Purusha by the three-lettered syllable ‘Om’—he is borne up by the Sāma-hymns to the Brahma-loka, to the region of Brahman.” (Ibid, 5-5).

Again, having started with the words “Elsewhere than in dharma and elsewhere than in a-dharma, tell me what thou seest;” (Katha-Upanishad, 2-13), the śruti says,

“that goal which all the Vedas speak of (i.e., are intended for), which all the austerities speak of, desiring which they lead the life of Brahmacharya (celibacy), that goal I tell thee in brevity: It is this, the syllable ‘Om.’ ” (Ibid 2-14).

In such passages as these, the syllable ‘Om’ regarded either as an expression of the Para-Brahman or as a symbol of Him like an idol, is intended for persons of dull and mid­dling intellects as a means of knowing the Para-Brahman; and the contemplation of the ‘Om’ is said to produce moksha at a subsequent period.

Now, the same contemplation (conjoined with firmness in Yoga) of the syllable ‘Om’, productive of mukti at a subsequent period

—the ‘ Om ’ forming, as shown above, a means of knowing the Para- Brahman described here (viii. 9, n)

—has to be taught here as well as some minor matters connected with the main subject.

With this view, the Lord proceeds with the sequel:

Shankara's commentary:

Having closed all the avenues of knowledge and having concentrated thought in the lotus of the heart, and with thought thus controlled, he ascends by the Nādi which passes upwards from the heart,

and then fixing life-breath in the head, he utters the syllable ‘Om’, the appellation of the Brahman, and meditates on Me.

-‘Leaving the body’, shows the mode of departure. The departure takes place by the Self leaving the body, not by the Self being destroyed.