Aksara Brahma Yoga

अर्जुन उवाच |

Arjuna said: What is that Brahman? What is the inner Self (Adhyatma)? What is action (Karma), O Supreme Person? What is declared to be the material realm (Adhibhuta), and what is called the divine realm (Adhidaiva)?

अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन |

Who is the Lord of sacrifice (Adhiyajna) here, and how does He dwell in this body, O Madhusudana? And how are You to be known at the time of death by those of self-controlled minds?

श्रीभगवानुवाच |

The Supreme Lord said: The indestructible, supreme reality is Brahman. Its essential nature (the soul) is called Adhyatma. The creative force that causes the manifestation of the existence of beings is called Karma.

अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम् |

The mutable material nature is Adhibhuta. The cosmic soul is Adhidaiva. And I am Adhiyajna (the Lord of sacrifice), residing in the body of all embodied beings, O best of the embodied.

अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम् |

And whoever, at the end of life, quits the body remembering Me alone, at once attains My state of being. Of this there is no doubt.

यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम् |

Whatever state of being one remembers when quitting the body, O son of Kunti, that state alone one attains, being constantly absorbed in that thought.

तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च |

Therefore, at all times, remember Me and fight. With your mind and intellect surrendered to Me, you will surely come to Me without doubt.

अभ्यासयोगयुक्तेन चेतसा नान्यगामिना |

Practicing constant yoga, with the mind not wandering after anything else, meditating on the Supreme Divine Person, one attains Him, O Partha.

कविं पुराणमनुशासितार-

One should meditate upon the omniscient, ancient, ruler, minuter than the atom, supporter of all, of inconceivable form, resplendent like the sun, beyond all darkness.

प्रयाणकाले मनसाऽचलेन

At the time of death, with an unwavering mind, endowed with devotion and the power of yoga, drawing the life-breath between the eyebrows, one attains that Supreme Divine Person.

यदक्षरं वेदविदो वदन्ति

That state which the knowers of the Veda call Imperishable (Akshara), which the self-controlled ascetics free from passion enter, desiring which they practice celibacy (brahmacharya), that goal I shall briefly declare to you.

सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च |

Controlling all the gateways of the body, confining the mind within the heart, drawing the life-force to the head, established in yogic concentration...

ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन् |

Uttering the single syllable OM, which is Brahman, and remembering Me as he departs, he who quits the body attains the supreme goal.

अनन्यचेताः सततं यो मां स्मरति नित्यशः |

For the yogi who constantly remembers Me with single-minded devotion, I am easily attained, O Partha, because of their constant union.

मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् |

Having attained Me, these great souls do not take birth again in this transient world of suffering, having reached the highest perfection.

आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन |

From the highest realm of Brahma down to the lowest, all worlds are subject to repeated birth and death, O Arjuna. But having attained Me, O son of Kunti, there is no rebirth.

सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद् ब्रह्मणो विदुः |

Those who know that a day of Brahma lasts for a thousand Mahayugas, and his night also lasts for a thousand Mahayugas—they are the knowers of day and night.

अव्यक्ताद् व्यक्तयः सर्वाः प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे |

At the dawn of Brahma's day, all manifest beings emanate from the unmanifest; at the approach of his night, they merge back into that same unmanifest.

भूतग्रामः स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते |

This same multitude of living beings, coming into existence again and again, is helplessly dissolved at the approach of night, O Partha, and manifests again at the dawn of day.

परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः |

But beyond this unmanifest, there is another eternal unmanifest state of being, which does not perish when all living beings perish.

अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम् |

This unmanifest is called the Imperishable (Akshara); they declare it to be the supreme goal. Having attained it, they do not return. That is My supreme abode.

पुरुषः स परः पार्थ भक्त्या लभ्यस्त्वनन्यया |

That Supreme Person, O Partha, is attainable by unswerving devotion alone; within Him all beings dwell, and by Him all this universe is pervaded.

यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः |

I shall now declare to you, O best of the Bharatas, the times at which departing yogis depart to never return, and also the times at which they depart to return.

अग्निर्जोतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् |

Fire, light, day, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern solstice—departing at these times, knowers of Brahman go to Brahman.

धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम् |

Smoke, night, the dark fortnight, the six months of the southern solstice—departing at these times, the yogi reaches the lunar light and returns.

शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते |

These two paths of the world, the bright and the dark, are considered eternal. By one, a person goes to return no more; by the other, one returns again.

नैते सृती पार्थ जानन्योगी मुह्यति कश्चन |

Knowing these two paths, O Partha, no yogi is ever deluded. Therefore, at all times, be united in yoga, O Arjuna.

वेदेषु यज्ञेषु तपःसु चैव

The yogi who knows this transcends all the meritorious fruits declared for the study of the Vedas, performance of sacrifices, austerities, and charities, and attains the supreme primeval state.