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Chapter VIII28 verses

अथ अष्टमोऽध्यायः

अक्षरब्रह्मयोगः

The Yoga of the Immutable Brahman

Akṣara-brahma-yoga

Remember Him at all times and fight, until remembrance is no longer an act of the mind but the very substance of your consciousness. — The Delight of Krishna

The soul enters in
vāsudevaḥ sarvam — the knowledge that the Divine is all that is
and is led towards
mām anusmara yudhya ca — the whole of life become a remembrance of the Divine
Begin at 8 · 1 Play chapter

Recitations

  1. Swami Sarvagananda ji0:00
  2. Ashit Desai0:00
In this chapter

28 verses

Summary of chapter 8

The Supreme Divine - We have here the first description of the Supreme Purusha, - the Godhead who is even more and greater than the Immutable and to whom the Gita gives subsequently (as in the fifteenth chapter) the name of Purushottama. The language here is taken bodily from the Upanishads.

Chapter 8 illustration, titled अक्षरब्रह्मयोगः
Illustration · Sushanto Nath, Sri Aurobindo Society

Chapter outline

Choose a range to read just those verses.

  1. 8·1–4The terms of lntegral Knowledge.
  2. 8·5–16The Yogic wav to final release into divine Status.
  3. 8·17–26The Cosmic Cvcle; Dav and Night of the Creator, their hearings on mystic paths.
  4. 8·27–28The supreme value of constant Yoga.
  5. 8·1–28Show all 28 verses

The verses

Showing verses 1–4 of 28 · Show all 28 verses

Arjuna uvācaअर्जुन उवाच

  1. 8·1किं तद् ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम । अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तमधिदैवं किमुच्यते ॥ १ ॥kiṁ tad brahma kimadhyātmaṁ kiṁ karma puruṣottama, adhibhūtaṁ ca kiṁ proktamadhidaivaṁ kimucyate.What is that brahma, what is adhyātmam, what is karma, O Purushottama?
  2. 8·2अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन । प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोऽसि नियतात्मभिः ॥ २ ॥adhiyajñaḥ kathaṁ ko’tra dehe’sminmadhusūdana, prayāṇakāle ca kathaṁ jñeyo’si niyatātmabhiḥ.What is adhiyajñaḥ in this body, O Madhusudana? And how, in the critical moment of departure from physical…

Śrī Bhagavān uvācaश्रीभगवानुवाच

  1. 8·3, a key verseअक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते । भूतभावोद्भवकरो विसर्गः कर्मसंज्ञितः ॥ ३ ॥akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ svabhāvo’dhyātmamucyate, bhūtabhāvodbhavakaro visargaḥ karmasaṁjñitaḥ.The Akshara is the supreme Brahman; svabhāvaḥ is called adhyātmam…
  2. 8·4, a key verseअधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम् । अधियज्ञोऽहमेवात्र देहे देहभृतां वर ॥ ४ ॥adhibhūtaṁ kṣaro bhāvaḥ puruṣaścādhidaivatam, adhiyajño’hamevātra dehe dehabhṛtāṁ vara.adhibhūtam is kṣaraḥ bhāvaḥ, adhidaiva is the Purusha; I myself am the Lord of sacrifice, adhiyajña here in…
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End of the chapter

ॐ तत्सदिति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासूपनिषत्सुब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे श्रीकृष्णार्जुनसंवादेअक्षरब्रह्मयोगो नामाष्टमोऽध्यायः ॥ ८॥

om tatsaditi śrīmadbhagavadgītāsūpaniṣatsubrahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvādeakṣarabrahmayogo nāmāṣṭamo’dhyāyaḥ

Thus, in the Upanishad sung by the Lord, the science of Brahman, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the eighth chapter entitled “The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman”

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