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The Imperishable Absolute · 28 verses
Ask Krishna about this chapterArjuna asked: O Lord of Lords! What is that which people call the Supreme Spirit, what is humanity's spiritual nature, and what is the law? What is matter and what is…
Who is Adhiyajna, and how does he exist here in this body, O Madhusudana? And how, at the time of death, are You to be known by those of steadfast mind?
The Blessed Lord said: The imperishable is the supreme Brahman; one's own nature is called Adhyatma; the creative offering that brings about the existence and…
Adhibhuta is the perishable nature of being, and the Purusha is the Adhidaivata. The Adhiyajna is I Myself, here in this body, O best among the embodied.
And whoever, at the time of death, departs leaving the body while remembering Me alone, he attains My state — there is no doubt about this.
Whatever being one remembers while giving up the body at the end, that very being one attains, O son of Kunti, having always been absorbed in thought of that being.
Therefore, always meditate on Me and fight; if your mind and reason are fixed on Me, you will surely come to Me.
O Partha, with a mind engaged in the yoga of practice and not straying to anything else, one who constantly meditates attains the Supreme Divine Person.
Whoso meditates on the Omniscient, the Ancient, more minute than an atom, yet the Ruler and Upholder of all, Unimaginable, Brilliant like the Sun, Beyond the reach of…
He who leaves the body with an unmoved mind, filled with devotion, and by the power of his meditation gathers his whole vital energy between his eyebrows, attains the…
Now, I will briefly speak of the imperishable goal, proclaimed by those who are versed in the scriptures, which the mystic attains when free from passion, and for which…
Closing the gates of the body, drawing the forces of his mind into the heart, and, by the power of meditation, concentrating his vital energy in the brain;
Repeating Om, the symbol of eternity, and holding Me always in remembrance, he who thus leaves his body and goes forth reaches the Supreme Spirit.
To him who constantly thinks of Me and nothing else, to such an ever-faithful devotee, O Arjuna, I am ever accessible.
Having attained Me, the great souls who have reached the highest perfection do not undergo rebirth, which is the abode of sorrow and is impermanent.
The worlds, along with the entire realm of creation, come and go; but, O Arjuna, whoever comes to Me, for them there is no rebirth.
Those who understand the cosmic day and night know that one day of creation is a thousand cycles, and that the night is of equal length.
At the coming of day, all manifested beings emerge from the Unmanifest; at the coming of night, they dissolve back into that very same which is called the Unmanifest.
O Partha, this same multitude of beings, coming into existence again and again, is helplessly dissolved at the coming of night and comes forth at the coming of day.
In truth, therefore, there is the eternal, unmanifest, which is beyond and above the unmanifest spirit of creation, and which is never destroyed when all these beings…
The wise say that the Unmanifest and Indestructible is the highest goal of all; when once that is reached, there is no returning. That is my blessed home.
That Supreme Person, O Partha, within whom all beings reside and by whom all this is pervaded, is attainable indeed through unswerving devotion.
Now, I will tell you, O Arjuna, the times at which, if the mystics go forth, they do not return, and at which they go forth only to return.
If the sage, knowing the Supreme Spirit, goes forth with fire and light during the day, in the fortnight of the waxing moon, and in the six months before the Northern…
Smoke, night, the dark fortnight, and the six months of the sun's southern course—passing along that path and attaining the lunar light, the yogi returns.
These bright and dark paths out of the world have always existed. Whoever takes the former, does not return; he who chooses the latter, returns.
O Arjuna! The saint, knowing these paths, is not confused; therefore, meditate perpetually.
The sage who knows this passes beyond all merit that comes from the study of the scriptures, from sacrifice, from austerities, and from charity, and reaches the Supreme…