Lord Krishna's last instructions to Arjuna, before departing to Dwarka

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When all the Pandavas were away on their paths, Arjuna and krishna met in a Palace, Arjun said to Krishna - "I came to know about your greatness when the war started. What you said to me at that time, I have forgotten because of the weakness of my mind. I have been repeatedly pondering over those truths. And now you will go to Dwaarakaa."

Krishna embraced him and said - "I told you those truths which are mysteries and eternal. It is very bad that you didn't listen to it attentively. Now I cannot recollect fully. Really you are without faith, you have no understanding. It is just impossible for me to repeat all that what I said on that occasion. What I said to you at that time is more than sufficient to understand Brahman. I cannot tell you all that in detail. I told you about Supreme Brahman having concentrated on me in Yoga. but I tell you another incident of history similar to that. Listen to it now attentively so that you can reach your highest goal. At one time a Braahman of irresistible energy came to us from Heaven. We welcomed him and honored him. Now you listen attentively to what he said in answers of our questions.

He said - "O Krishna, Whatever you have asked me related to the regions of Moksha for the good of the people, you know it already, still I tell it to you duly, listen to it attentively. A Braahmana named Kashyap who had possessed penance and was well conversant with duties came to another Braahmana who knew all mysteries of religion. This another Braahmana had mastered all the knowledge about birth and death of beings, pleasure and pain, distinction between merit and demerit and had the knowledge through Yog. He had all his Indriyaani under his control. Kashyap had heard about him so he wanted to see him. So he went to him and fell on his feet. He started waiting upon him as a disciple waits upon his preceptor.

One day, satisfied with his services that Braahmana spoke to Kashyap thus - "By diverse acts, and by merit, mortal creatures attain diverse ends here and in Heaven. Nowhere is the highest happiness, no residence is eternal. There are repeated falls from the highest regions. As a result of my indulgence in sins I have been born and died several times. I have taken many kinds of food, seen many kinds of mothers, all different from one another. I have suffered from all kinds of opposites. One day overwhelmed with sorrows and despair I took refuge in Formless. In gave up the world of all joys and sorrows. I understood this path, through tranquility of the soul I attained this success which you are seeing now. After I have gone from here, I will not come here again. Till this world finally dissolves, (Mahaa Pralaya, not Khand Pralaya or Avaantar Pralaya) I shall look on those happy ends that will be mine. I shall attain that aspect of Brahman which is Formless after getting to Satya Lok. I am very pleased with you, tell me what can I do for you? I know what for you have come here. I shall soon depart from this world. Question me anything, I will reply. You look intelligent that is why you could recognize me."

Krishna continued - "Then Kashyap asked some very difficult questions from him. He asked - "How does the body dissolve away; and then how is another one acquired? How one attains Moksha after several rounds of painful rebirths? How does Jeev cast off the particular body given by Prakriti? How does Jeev attain, free from the body, Him (Brahman)? How does a human being enjoy the fruits of his bad and good Karm? Where do the acts exist of a person that is devoid of the body?"

The Braahmana said - "How the body dissolves away? - Upon the exhaustion of those acts, which prolong the life, done in a particular body that Jeev assumes, the embodied Jeev with the span of life shortened begins to do acts hostile to life and health. As the death approaches nearer his understanding turns away from the proper course. He begins to eat at irregular intervals and the kind of food which is hostile to him. From these harmful practices he gets sick soon. Sometime he engages himself in unnatural practices (like hanging himself); and thus the living body of the creature dissolves away. How? Understand it as I say it - urged by the Wind which becomes violent; the heat in the body is excited, reaches every part of the body one after the other and restrains vital breaths. Thus heat becomes very strong and pierces every part of the body where life may be said to reside. As a result Jeev feels great pain and quickly takes leave from this body. Thus while the body feels so much pain, Jeev slips away from the body overwhelmed with great pain. All living creatures are repeatedly afflicted with death and rebirth. It is said that the pain a person feels is like that when he enters the womb or comes out of it - his joints are almost dislocated and he feels much distress from the water.

Urged by another wind, the wind inside the body is excited through cold and dissolves the body into its respective five elements. The wind which resides in the vital breaths (Praan and Apaan) rushes upwards from this situation of distress, leaving the body. That is how wind leaves the body. The man then becomes destitute of heat, breath, beauty and consciousness. Deserted by Brahm (Jeev is Brahm) the person is said to be dead. His all Indriyaan stop working, he can no longer perceive anything from them. It is that eternal Jeev who creates in the body the life-breaths generated by food.

The five elements gather together at certain places in the body and are firmly united - these parts are called vital parts. When these vital parts are pierced, Jeev rises up to the heat of the creature and stops the movements of the creature immediately. The creature, though still conscious, fails to know anything. The vital parts are already overwhelmed, the knowledge also is overwhelmed by darkness. Jeev is deprived of everything on which to stay, is agitated by wind. He then deeply and painfully breathing goes away quickly causing the still body trembled.

Disassociated from the body, however Jeeva is surrounded by his acts - whether sins or Punya (meritorious acts). Braahman through their knowledge, know that whether that Jeeva is possessed with merits or sins. As people see fire from their eyes, in the same way the knowledgeable Braahman with the eye of their knowledge (Tap and spiritual vision) can see when Jeeva left the body, when it entered the womb, when it is reborn.

Where the Jeeva goes? - It is seen that Jeeva is assigned three regions eternally - this world which is called "Field of Action" where it does all kinds of Karm and enjoys their fruits. Depending on their Karm they can attain higher or lower type of enjoyments - evil doers get to Hell from where recovery is difficult. Now I will tell you where do they go from here. You should listen to it attentively so that you can clearly know of good and bad acts. Those regions (that shine away in the firmament) are for all creatures of righteous deeds. As their Punya are over, they fall from them. In Heaven itself there are superior, inferior and middle type of felicity. After this I tell you, how Jeeva lives in womb. Listen to it.

The Braahman said - "The Karma, good or bad, that a Jeeva does are not subject to destruction. When this Jeeva takes up body after body, those Karma produce fruits corresponding to them. As a fruit-bearing tree bears fruits in large quantity in season, in the same way merit achieves a large crop of felicity (comforts), and a sin too produces a large crop of miseries. The Jeeva (soul) does actions placing the mind ahead. Hear it how Jeeva, along with his Karma and overwhelmed with lust and wrath, enters the womb.

The vital seed, mixed with blood, enters the womb of females and becomes the field of Jeev, good or bad, born of his Karm. In consequence of his subtlety and the condition of being unmanifest (not perceptible), Jeeva does not become attached to anything even after attaining the body. Therefore he is called Etarnal Brahman. This Jeeva or Eternal Brahman is the seed of all creatures. A creature lives only because of Him. This Jeeva supports the life by entering all the limbs of the fetus, part by part; accepting the attribute of mind and residing within all the places where Praana lives. As a result of this, the fetus becomes endued with mind begins to move its limbs. You should know this as the liquid melted iron on pouring in a mold starts shaping according to its mold, the same way the entrance of Jeeva in the body works. As a lamp, burning in a room, discovers all the things in a room, in the same way, the mind discovers the different limbs of the whole body.

Whatever Karma, the Jeev has done in his former life have certainly be enjoyed or endured by him. So enjoying and enduring (during his life) his former Karma are exhausted; while the other Karma are also accumulated, till Jeeva succeeds in acquiring the knowledge of duties which lead to Moksha (emancipation). Now I tell you those Karma by which Jeeva is involved in birth and death cycle and is happy. Gifts, observance of austerity, Brahmcharya, respecting Braahman according to the ordinances laid down, self-control, tranquility, compassion for all creatures, being kind to everybody, honoring Devtaa and guests, worshipping parents and preceptors, pitying, not taking other's things, refraining even mentally from all Karm that are false or injurious to all living creatures, and causing good to everybody are said to constitute good conduct. From such Karma arises righteousness which protects creatures eternally. He who takes the course of Righteousness would never have to attain miserable conditions. It is by the conduct of good that the world is restrained in the paths of Righteousness when it falls away. He that is a Yogi, is emancipated (attains Moksha) and is thus distinguished above these (better). Emancipation takes place after a long time for him who acts righteously and well on every occasion as he should. Thus a creature always meets his Karma done in his former life. All these acts combined constitute his coming to this world in a state different from his true form.

There is a doubt in the world as regards the question: By what was the acceptance (by Jeeva) of a body first determined? The Grandsire Brahmaa first formed a body of his own; then created the three worlds in their entirety along with mobile and immobile creatures. After assuming his own body, he created Pradhaana. This Pradhaana is the material cause of all embodied creatures by whom all this is covered. This, that is seen, is said to be destructible. This, that is seen, is said to be Kshara - the destructible. That which, however, is Paraa is the immortal, or A-Kshara. Of each Purusha, taken distributively, the whole is duality among these three.*

* This Paraa (other) is of two kinds - Sudhaa Chaitanyam (Brahman in its purity) and Aksharant (Jeeva as existing in material case). And the "three" refers to Kshar, Amrit and A-Kshar. Mithun is duality referring to Kshara and A-Kshara combined. It is said here that every Purush is a duality.

Seen first (in embodiment form), Prajaapati created all the primal elements and all immobile creatures. Of acceptance of body, the Grandsire ordained a limit in respect of time and migrations among diverse creatures and rebirth. All what I am saying to is correct, like an intelligent person and who has seen his soul would say on this topic of previous births.

That person who looks pleasures and sorrows alike, which is the correct view, who sees this body as an unholy, and destruction as ordained in action, and all pleasures are really all pain, will succeed in crossing this world ocean which otherwise is difficult to cross. He who understands Pradhaan sees that Consciousness with equal eye. Seeking the Supreme seat he becomes utterly indifferent to all other things. I will tell you now about the excellent seat, so that you can completely understand what constitutes this excellent knowledge of that excellent seat."

The Braahman said - "He who becomes absorbed in One Brahman, freeing himself from even the thought of his own identity with all things - ceasing to think even his own existence (gradual merger of the grosser in to the Subtler - the successive stages of Yog before absorption into Brahman), will succeed in crossing the bonds. The man who is a friend of all, who endures all, who has conquered all his senses, who has no fear and wrath, who has no ego, who is free from vanity, succeeds in attaining Moksha. He is also emancipated, who sees the duals equally - life and death, pleasure and pains, gain and loss, agreeable and disagreeable. He is also emancipated who does not take other's things, who never disregards anybody, who is detached from everything. He is also emancipated who has no enemy, no kinsmen, no children, no religion, no wealth, no pleasure, no desire, no Karm (good or bad), no belongings, acquires no merit or demerit. He that sees his soul without smell, touch, sound, taste, vision, belongings is said to be emancipated. He who sees his soul without the attributes of five elements to be without form and cause (formlessnees means subtlety and cause means Brahman) is emancipated. Now I shall describe the science of Yoga to which nothing is superior, and how Yogi by concentration see the perfect soul. I shall tell you its instruction properly so that you can know how to direct the soul within the body to see the One that has no beginning no end.

Withdrawing one's senses, one should fix his mind upon the soul, after having gone under severe austerity previously (fixing the mind upon soul becomes possible when severe austerities have been undertaken previously), one should practice the concentration of mind leading to Moksha. Observant of penance and always practicing concentration of mind, an intelligent man should practice Yoga. After succeeding in concentration of mind and habituated meditation sees the Supreme Soul in his own soul. As a person sees the Unseen Individual in a dream, he can recognize him and says "This is Him", if he wakes up, he can recognize Him in that state also.

As one can see the fiber coming out of the Moonj (a kind of grass from which ropes are made), in the same way a Yogi also sees the soul coming out of his body. When one has seen the soul in Yoga, the there is nobody who is master over him, because he himself is the Lord of three worlds (not even He that is the Lord of the Universe). He can assume various kinds of bodies as he wishes. Casting his physical body he attains the immutable body of Brahma. He has no fear seeing other creatures suffering from death. Weapons never pierce him, death doesn't exist for him. Because of enjoying Yoga's sovereignty one should not leave Yoga. When on has seen the soul in Yoga, he then ceases the regard even for Indra. Now you hear that how to succeed in attaining to Yoga habituating oneself to meditation.

How to do Yoga?

Thinking of the point behind which is the Sun, the mind should be fixed, not outside, but in the interior of the mansion in which one lives. Residing within the mansion (body), one should see in that particular room, in which he lives. At that time he, when he is in deep meditation, one sees the All (Brahman) - then there is nothing external to Brahman where the mind may dwell. (When Brahman is realized, the whole Universe seems like Brahman, so nothing else exists). One should do this in a calm and quiet place.

As one sees a precious object kept in his room, in the same way he should place the mind in his body, then restraining his all senses seek after the soul. One will be gratified with himself very soon and after seeing Brahm he will be able to converse with Pradhaana (that from which the whole Universe was created). He is not capable of being seized by any of the senses. Only by the lamp of the mind that great soul can be seen. Jeeva sees the soul as extracted from the body [by knowledge]. Then casting off Brahman as invested with form by holding the mind in the body, he sees Brahman as freed from all attributes. He sees the soul with his mind, smiling as if it were the Time. Depending on that Brahman he then attains to emancipation in me (Vaasudev).

Krishna continued - You heard the same discourse when you were in the chariot. This is difficult to understand for those whose understanding is weak, or who have not acquired wisdom by studying or whose soul is not purified. O Arjun, This is the great mystery among the Devtaas which was revealed to you. It has never been told or heard on this Earth before this. No other man except you deserves to hear this. The world of Devtaas is filled with the people who follow the religion of Karma (actions); the religion of Non-Karma (inaction) is not agreeable to them.*

Heaven is the reward for those who follow the religion of Pravritti, such as sacrifices, religious activities etc; the followers of Nivratti or inaction, means the followers of the path of knowledge attain Moksh - emancipation. Devtaas derive their sustenance from the followers of Pravritti, therefore are jealous of the followers of Nivritti. The Emancipation state is higher then Devtaa themselves.A True Bhakta is always in that state.

That goal is the highest which is prescribed by Brahmaa himself. By attaining this goal, one attains immortality and eternal happiness. By following this religion, even those who are sinful by birth, such as women, Shoodra, Vaishya, can also attain the highest goal,what need to be said about Braahmnanas and Kshatriyas. There is nothing else higher than this. Yoga takes place in his case who devotes himself to constant practice for a period of six months." .