श्रीमद्भगवद्गीताBhagavad Gītā · in the light of Sri Aurobindo, home
Sign in

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 17–26 of 28 · Show all 28 verses

Śrī Bhagavān uvācaश्रीभगवानुवाच

  1. 8·17सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद् ब्रह्मणो विदुः । रात्रिं युगसहस्रान्तां तेऽहोरात्रविदो जनाः ॥ १७ ॥sahasrayugaparyantamaharyad brahmaṇo viduḥ, rātriṁ yugasahasrāntāṁ te’horātravido janāḥ.Those who know the day of Brahma, a thousand ages (Yugas) in duration, and the night, a thousand ages in…
  2. 8·18अव्यक्ताद् व्यक्तयः सर्वाः प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे । रात्र्यागमे प्रलीयन्ते तत्रैवाव्यक्तसंज्ञके ॥ १८ ॥avyaktād vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavantyaharāgame, rātryāgame pralīyante tatraivāvyaktasaṁjñake.At the coming of the Day all manifestations are born into being out of the unmanifest, at the coming of the…
  3. 8·19भूतग्रामः स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते । रात्र्यागमेऽवशः पार्थ प्रभवत्यहरागमे ॥ १९ ॥bhūtagrāmaḥ sa evāyaṁ bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate, rātryāgame’vaśaḥ pārtha prabhavatyaharāgame.This multitude of existences helplessly comes into the becoming again and again, is dissolved at the coming of…
  4. 8·20परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः । यः स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति ॥ २० ॥parastasmāttu bhāvo’nyo’vyakto’vyaktātsanātanaḥ, yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu na vinaśyati.But this unmanifest is not the original divinity of the Being…
  5. 8·21अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम् । यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ॥ २१ ॥avyakto’kṣara ityuktastamāhuḥ paramāṁ gatim, yaṁ prāpya na nivartante taddhāma paramaṁ mama.He is called the unmanifest immutable, him they speak of as the supreme soul and status, and those who attain…
  6. 8·22, a key verseपुरुषः स परः पार्थ भक्त्या लभ्यस्त्वनन्यया । यस्यान्तःस्थानि भूतानि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ॥ २२ ॥puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyastvananyayā, yasyāntaḥsthāni bhūtāni yena sarvamidaṁ tatam.But that supreme Purusha has to be won by a bhakti which turns to him alone in whom all beings exist and by…
  7. 8·23यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः । प्रयाता यान्ति तं कालं वक्ष्यामि भरतर्षभ ॥ २३ ॥yatra kāle tvanāvṛttimāvṛttiṁ caiva yoginaḥ, prayātā yānti taṁ kālaṁ vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha.That time wherein departing Yogins do not return, and also that wherein departing they return, that time shall…
  8. 8·24अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् । तत्र प्रयाता गच्छन्ति ब्रह्म ब्रह्मविदो जनाः ॥ २४ ॥agnirjyotirahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam, tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahmavido janāḥ.Fire and light and smoke or mist, the day and the night, the bright fortnight of the lunar month and the dark…
  9. 8·25धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम् । तत्र चान्द्रमसं ज्योतिर्योगी प्राप्य निवर्तते ॥ २५ ॥dhūmo rātristathā kṛṣṇaḥ ṣaṇmāsā dakṣiṇāyanam, tatra cāndramasaṁ jyotiryogī prāpya nivartate.By the second i.e. Smoke or mist, the night, the dark fortnight of lunar month and the southern solstice, the…
  10. 8·26शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते । एकया यात्यनावृत्तिमन्ययावर्तते पुनः ॥ २६ ॥śuklakṛṣṇe gatī hyete jagataḥ śāśvate mate, ekayā yātyanāvṛttimanyayāvartate punaḥ.These are the bright and the dark paths (called the path of the gods and the path of the fathers in the…
Show all 28 verses

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”

Go to a verse

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28