The Bhagavad Gita · 1 of 2 · tr. Kashinath Trimbak Telang
Chapter VIII, Section 1a
CHAPTER VIII.
Ar g una said: What is that Brahman, what the Adhyâtma, and what, O best of beings!
is action?
And what is called the Adhibhûta?
And who is the Adhiya g ña, and how in this body, O destroyer of Madhu?
And how, too, are you to be known at the time of departure (from this world) by those who restrain their selfs?
The Deity said: The Brahman is the supreme, the indestructible.
Its manifestation (as an individual self) is called the Adhyâtma.
The offering (of an oblation to any divinity), which is the cause of the production and development of all things, is named action.
The Adhibhûta is all perishable things.
The Adhidaivata is the (primal) being.
And the Adhiya g ña, O best of embodied (beings)!
is I myself in this body .
[paragraph continues] And he who leaves this body and departs (from this world) remembering me in (his) last moments, comes into my essence.
There is no doubt of that.
Also whichever form (of deity) he remembers when he finally leaves this body, to that he goes, O son of Kuntî!
having been used to ponder on it.
Therefore, at all times remember me, and engage in battle.
Fixing your mind and understanding on me, you will come to me, there is no doubt.
He who thinks of the supreme divine Being, O son of P ri thâ!
with a mind not (running) to other (objects), and possessed of abstraction in the shape of continuous meditation (about the supreme), goes to him.
He who, possessed of reverence (for the supreme Being) with a steady mind, and with the power of devotion, properly concentrates the life-breath between the brows , and meditates on the ancient Seer, the ruler, more minute than the minutest atom , the supporter of all, who is of an unthinkable form, whose brilliance is like that of the sun, and who is beyond all darkness , he attains to that transcendent and divine Being.
I will tell you briefly about the seat, which those who know the Vedas declare to be indestructible; which entered by ascetics from whom all desires have departed; and wishing for which, people pursue the mode of life of Brahma k ârins .
He who leaves the body and departs (from this world), stopping up all passages , and confining the mind within the heart , placing the life-breath in the head, and adhering to uninterrupted meditation , repeating the single syllable 'Om,' (signifying) the eternal Brahman , and meditating on me, he reaches the highest goal.
To the devotee who constantly practises abstraction, O son of P ri thâ!
and who with a mind not (turned) to anything else, is ever and constantly meditating on me, I am easy of access.
The high-souled ones, who achieve the highest perfection, attaining to me, do not again come to life, which is transient, a home of woes .
All worlds, O Ar g una!
up to the world of Brahman, are (destined) to return .
But, O son of Kuntî!
after attaining to me, there is no birth again.
Those who know a day of Brahman to end after one thousand ages, and the night to terminate after one thousand ages, are the persons who know day and night .
On the advent of day, all perceptible things are produced from the unperceived; and on the advent of night they dissolve in that same (principle) called the unperceived.
A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.
The practice described involves focusing the mind on a specific form of deity or the Supreme Being, utilizing imagery and symbolic thought rather than empty stillness.
The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles.
The passage describes cosmic cycles where all perceptible things are produced from the unperceived and dissolve back into it, indicating a periodic restoration or recurrence.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The Divine is described as 'unthinkable form,' 'more minute than the minutest atom,' and 'beyond all darkness,' utilizing negation to describe the ineffable nature of God.
Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.
The text mentions ascetics from whom 'all desires have departed' and the need for a mind not running to other objects, indicating a letting-go of worldly attachments.
The entire passage serves as a guide for the soul's journey at the moment of death, detailing the specific mental and physical preparations required to navigate the transition.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
Krishna instructs Arjuna that knowing the nature of Brahman and remembering Him at death leads to liberation, emphasizing direct knowledge over mere ritual.
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
Krishna speaks in the first person ('I myself'), engages in dialogue, and promises accessibility to those who remember Him, presenting a personal and active deity.
Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.
The text repeatedly instructs the practitioner to fix the mind, engage in continuous meditation, and concentrate the life-breath as the path to liberation.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The passage explicitly defines the Adhyatma as the individual self and states that the Divine (Adhidaiva) resides within the body, establishing the human as a mirror of the cosmic whole.
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
The text describes the devotee who remembers Krishna at death as coming into His essence, signifying a complete merging of the individual with the divine.
The text discusses the departure of the soul from the body and its subsequent journey to a destination based on its final thoughts, implying a cycle of existence.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The passage asserts that the individual self (Adhyatma) is a manifestation of the supreme Brahman and that the Divine resides within every body, pointing to non-duality.
The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.
The repetition of the syllable 'Om' is presented as a causal mechanism that enables the soul to reach the eternal Brahman.