Gita Satsang - Chapter 8 : verses 1-4 ; Oct. 23, 2001

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Namaste,

 

mat chittaaH mat gata-praaNaaH bodhayantaH parasparam.h .

kathayantaH cha maa.n nitya.n tushhyanti cha ramanti cha ..

shriimad-bhagavad-giitaa 10:9

 

'With their thought on Me, with their life absorbed in Me,

instructing each other, and ever speaking of Me,

they are content and delighted.'

Ch.10:v.9.

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Chapter 8 : Verses 1-4 [with Shankara-Bhashya, tr.

Sw.Gambhirananda]

 

atha ashhTamo.adhyaayaH. (aksharabrahmayogaH)

 

CHAPTER 8 DISCOURSE ON THE IMMUTABLE BRAHMAN

 

In the text, '...they know that Brahman, everything (about the

individual Self)' (7.29) etc.,

the Lord has created scope for Arjuna's questions. Consequently, by

way of raising those

questions-

 

arjuna uvaacha .

 

ki.n tad brahma kimadhyaatma.n kiM karma purushhottama .

adhibhuuta.n cha kiM proktamadhidaiva.n kimuchyate .. 8\.1..

 

Arjuna said:

 

1. O supreme person, what is that Brahman? What is that which exists

in the individual plane?

What is action? And what is that which is said to exist in the

physical plane? What is that

which is said to be existing in the divine plane?

 

adhiyaGYaH katha.n ko.atra dehe.asminmadhusuudana .

prayaaNakaale cha katha.n GYeyo.asi niyataatmabhiH .. 8\.2..

 

2. O Madhusudana, how, and who, is the entity existing in the

sacrifice here in this body? And

at the time of death, how are You to be known by people of

concentrated minds?

 

In order to settle these questions seriatim-

 

shriibhagavaanuvaacha .

 

aksharaM brahma parama.n svabhaavo.adhyaatmamuchyate .

bhuutabhaavodbhavakaro visargaH karmasa.nGYitaH .. 8\.3..

 

The Blessed Lord said:

 

3. The Immutable is the supreme Brahman; self-hood is said to the

entity present in the

individual plane. By action is meant the offerings which bring about

the origin of the

existence of things.

 

aksharam means that which does not perish (na ksharati), the supreme

Self. This agrees with the Upanisadic text, 'Under the mighty rule of

this Immutable, O Gargi...' (Br. 3.8.9). And (the letter) Om is not

accepted here [as the meaning of aksara (lit. letter)], because of its

being mentioned (as a letter) later on in, 'The single letter Om,

which is Brahman' (13). Besides, the adjective 'supreme' is more

appropriate with regard to the absolute, immutable Brahman.

By svabhaava, self-hood, is meant the existence of that very supreme

Brahman in every body as the indwelling Self. svabhaavaH ucyate,

self-hood is said to be, is referred to by the word;

adhyaatmam, the entity which, as the indwelling Self, exists in the

body (aatmaa) by making it its habitat (adhikR^itya), and which in the

ultimate analysis is the supreme Brahman.

visargaH, the offerings, the giving away to gods of things like

porridge [Caru: An oblations of

rice, barley and pulse boiled-together to be offered to gods.], cake,

etc.;

bhuta-bhaava-udbhava-karaH, which bring about the origin of the

existence of things; is

karma-sa.nj~nitaH, meant by action. This sacrifice consisting in

pouring of oblations is called action. The existence (bhaava) of

(moving and non-moving) things (bhuuta) is bhuuta-bhaava. The coming

into being (udbhava) of that (existence) is bhuuta-bhaava-udbhavaH.

That which causes (karoti) this is bhuuta-bhaava-udbhava-karaH, i.e.

the originator of existing things. It is needed from this source that

all beings, moving and non-moving, originate through the successive

processes of rainfall etc. (see 3.14-15).

 

adhibhuutaM ksharo bhaavaH purushhashchaadhidaivatam.h .

adhiyaGYo.ahamevaatra dehe dehabhR^itaa.n vara .. 8\.4..

 

4. That which exists in the physical plane is the mutable entity, and

what exists in the divine

plane is the Person. O best among the embodied beings, I Myself am

the entity that exists in

the sacrifice in this body.

 

adhibhuutam, that which exists in the physical plane, i.e. that which

exists by comprising all

creatures;-what is it?-it consists of the ksaraH bhaavaH, mutable

entity. ksharaH is that which is mutable, which is destructible;

bhaavaH means anything whatsoever that has orgination. This is the

meaning.

purushhaH means the Person, derived in the sense of he by whom all

things are pervaded; or, he

who lies in every heart. He is Hiranyagarbha, who resides in the Sun

and sustains the organs of

all creatures. He is adhi-daivatam, the entity existing in the divine

plane.

deha-bhR^itam.n-vara, O best among the embodied beings; adhiyaj~naH,

the entity existing in

sacrifices, is the Deity, called Vishnu, presiding over all

sacrifices-which agrees with the

Vedic text, 'Sacrifice is indeed Vishnu' (Tai, Sam. 1.7.4). aham eva,

I Myself, who am that

very Vishnu; am adhiyaj~naH, the entity existing in the sacrifice;

which is going on atra dehe,

in this body. Since a sacrifice is performed with body, therefore it

is closely associated with

the body. In this sense it is said to be going on in the body.

 

 

[to be cotd.

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For Gita Dhyana Shlokas/Mantras and Mahatmya

/message/advaitin/6987

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Adi Shankara's commentary, translated by Swami Gambhirananda, at URL:

[kindly supplied by Madhava-ji]

advaitinGita/Shankara1/gmbCH6.htm

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Swami Chinmayananda's commentary at URL:

[kindly supplied by Ram-ji]

advaitinGita/Chinmaya/COMM6.HTM