7 Therefore, remember me at all times and fight on. With your heart and mind intent on me, you will surely come to me.
8 When you make your mind one-pointed through regular practice of meditation, you will find the supreme glory of the Lord.
9 The Lord is the supreme poet, the first cause, the sovereign ruler, subtler than the tiniest particle, the support of all, inconceivable, bright as the sun, beyond darkness.
10 Remembering him in this way at the time of death, through devotion and the power of meditation, with your mind completely stilled and your concentration fixed in the center of spiritual awareness between the eyebrows, you will realize the supreme Lord.
11 I will tell you briefly of the eternal state all scriptures affirm,which can be entered only by those who are self-controlled and free from selfish passions. Those whose lives are dedicated to Brahman attain this supreme goal.
12 Remembering me at the time of death, close down the doors ofthe senses and place the mind in the heart. Then, while absorbed in meditation, focus all energy upwards to the head.
13 Repeating in this state the divine name, the syllable Om that represents the changeless Brahman, you will go forth from the body and attain the supreme goal.
14 I am easily attained by the person who always remembers me and is attached to nothing else. Such a person is a true yogi, Arjuna.
15 Great souls make their lives perfect and discover me; they are freed from mortality and the suffering of this separate existence.
16 Every creature in the universe is subject to rebirth, Arjuna, except the one who is united with me.
17 Those who understand the cosmic laws know that the Day of Brahma ends after a thousand yugas and the Night of Brahma ends after a thousand yugas.
18 When the day of Brahma dawns, forms are brought forth from the Unmanifest; when the night of Brahma comes, these forms merge in the Formless again.
19 This multitude of beings is created and destroyed again and again in the succeeding days and nights of Brahma.
20 But beyond this formless state there is another, unmanifested reality, which is eternal and is not dissolved when the cosmos is destroyed.
21 Those who realize life’s supreme goal know that I am unmanifested and unchanging. Having come home to me, they never return to separate existence.
22 This supreme Lord who pervades all existence, the true Self of all creatures, may be realized through undivided love.
23 There are two paths, Arjuna, which the soul may follow at the time of death. One leads to rebirth and the other to liberation.
24 The six months of the northern path of the sun, the path of light, of fire, of day, of the bright fortnight, leads knowers of Brahman to the supreme goal.
25 The six months of the southern path of the sun, the path of smoke, of night, of the dark fortnight, leads other souls to the light of the moon and to rebirth.
26 These two paths, the light and the dark, are said to be eternal, leading some to liberation and others to rebirth.
27 Once you have known these two paths, Arjuna, you can never be deluded again. Attain this knowledge through perseverance in yoga.
28 There is merit in studying the scriptures, in selfless service, austerity, and giving, but the practice of meditation carries you beyond all these to the supreme abode of the highest Lord.
Chapter Nine, The Royal Path
This chapter praises Krishna as the Supreme Being who has created the world and dwells immanent in his creation. Krishna’s exalted nature is stressed, and warning is given to those who think that God is limited to his creation. It is true that Krishna has taken on a human form, but those who see only a limited human being and show him disrespect are courting great spiritual harm. These verses contain a warning for those who would underestimate Krishna’s divine power.
In this chapter Krishna replaces the many gods and goddesses of the usual Hindu pantheon, each of which represents a different divine power; here Krishna is seen as containing within himself all such powers. It is Krishna and Krishna alone who is to be worshipped: he is the goal, the support, the only refuge, the one true friend; he is the beginning and the end (9:18).
It follows that those who practice a ritual religion, offering the ritual sacrifices ordained by the Vedas, do not attain the true goal of their lives. True, they do enjoy heaven after death. But when their store of merit is used up, they are born again in order to have another chance at turning away from personal gain and aiming at life’s supreme goal. So long as they are motivated only by self-centered desires they must be born again and again, and their spiritual evolution either stands still or they make very little progress.
Even these souls, however, are really worshipping Krishna, though they do not know it. They seek Krishna, the Supreme Being, in all their wanderings through many, many lives and even in their sojourns in heaven, where they enjoy the reward of their good deeds. Because they do not know his real nature, however, they will not attain the goal, but will be reborn.
An endless round of rebirths may seem like a living damnation of the struggling soul – a harsh note that would be uncharacteristic of the Gita. But this is not a question of damnation. The purpose of life is to realize God, and until this is done, the soul cannot escape creating more karma which has to be worked out, however many lives it might take. The choice to turn toward Self-realization is always open.
The Gita does not dwell on the obstacles, however, but quickly goes on to reveal Krishna’s more compassionate nature. It makes the point that whatever a person deeply desires – whatever he or she worships – will eventually be attained, in some life or other. In particular, to have real, selfless love, regardless of the object, is to love Krishna, the ultimate good. This kind of love, called bhakti, is far more potent than observances and rituals – a point the Gita is slowly revealing. But to have this devotion without understanding Krishna’s nature is not enough. In the end, to attain his goal, Arjuna must have devotion and understand it is Krishna’s universal aspect that he loves. Then he will truly attain the eternal, immortal state.
This chapter contains a famous and very popular series of verses:
Whatever you do, make it an offering to me – the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your suffering. In this way you will be freed from the bondage of karma, and from its results both pleasant and painful. (9:27–28)
Krishna accepts every offering made to him in the right spirit; he assures Arjuna of this. Then he demands that Arjuna make everything – every act, every meal, every sacrifice, every gift, even his sufferings – an offering to God. He demands this so that Arjuna can be released from the bondage of karma. This is a new emphasis, a new way. If Arjuna can live in complete union with Krishna’s will, doing everything for Krishna alone, then by that very purity of will he will be free from selfish motives and thus released from karma. His spirit will be free, and he will attain his goal of mystic union with Krishna.
Krishna declares that he is impartial to all creatures: he neither favors nor rejects anyone. It is their sincere love that is important. Those who are truly devoted to Krishna live in him, and he abides in them. With some daring, probably at the risk of discomfort to the more orthodox, Krishna adds that even a sinner who takes wholehearted refuge in him becomes good. The word used is sadhu, which literally means a good person but has come to signify one who leads the spiritual life, giving up all selfish desires to achieve the final goal.
The word for sinner, sudurachara, should not be passed by either. Su is literally “good”; dur is “bad”: thus “one whose conduct is really bad,” as we might say “good and hot” to mean really hot.
Krishna promises that his devotees must attain peace at last. No one who has genuine love and devotion can perish. The meaning here is taken to be “perish” in a spiritual sense, come to spiritual harm. The message of this chapter is simple. It contains no philosophy and only a little theology. The one message is: anyone who has real love, love for the Lord of Love who is in all creatures, will in the end attain the goal. This is the royal secret that Krishna had promised to reveal. –D.M.
9: The Royal Path
KRISHNA
1 Because of your faith, I shall tell you the most profound of secrets:obtaining both jnana and vijnana, you will be free from all evil.
2 This royal knowledge, this royal secret, is the greatest purifier.Righteous and imperishable, it is a joy to practice and can be directly experienced.
3 But those who have no faith in the supreme law of life do not find me, Arjuna. They return to the world, passing from death to death.
4 I pervade the entire universe in my unmanifested form. All creatures find their existence in me, but I am not limited by them.
5 Behold my divine mystery! These creatures do not really dwell in me, and though I bring them forth and support them,
