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The Eighth Chapter of Gita is called ‘Akshar Brahma
Yoga’. There are in all 28 shlokas in it. The Chapter starts with some
seven questions by Arjuna. He was inquisitive about the exact meaning of
some words, which Lord had used at the end of seventh chapter.
Arjuna asked about the exact meaning of the word
Brahman, Adhyatma, Karma, Adhibhuta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyagnya. His last
question pertained to how does a person remember Lord at the time of his
death. Lord briefly answers all the initial questions, but answers the last
query very elaborately.
He says that whatever is an object of awareness of a
person at the last moment of his death has a very far-reaching effect on
the subsequent life on the person concerned. However, the thoughts &
desires of the last moments of ones life is not manipulative. In fact one
is not free to think about anything except the things about which one
already has strong impressions. So he suggests a plan of action to Arjuna
wherein one should remember God all the time and also dynamically keep on
doing ones duties. The famous statement that ‘Mamanusmar Yudhya cha’ is
from this chapter alone.
Lord suggests the use of the mantra OM for chanting
& remembering God. One should turn all one’s attention & energy on
OM and invoke all ones love & conviction regarding it too. When a
person leaves his body with this frame of mind then he attains this
divinity alone, from where there is no returning back to the cycle of birth
& death.
In the last section of the chapter Lord indicates that
apart from the unmanifest Brahman there is one more unmanifest thing too,
and that is the Maya power of Lord. One should be careful to turn ones
attention on the unmanifest Brahman and not the Maya. If the attention is
on the latter then the cycle continues. Two types of journeys are revealed
too. The Path of Sun & the Path of Moon. In the former one to Brahma
Loka, where the person exists till Brahmaji the creator lives, and then
merges in the infinite at the time of dissolution. The Path of Moon is
characterized by returning back to this world and going through the whole
process once again. In this unique way Lord motivates Arjuna to awake to
the Akshar Brahman right here & now.
Thus ends the eighth chapter of Bhagwad Gita.
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