In the Bhagavad Gita - Text and Commentary by Sri Sivananda (Sivananda Press Durban SA) the discourse (summary) is as follows:
Arjuna here asks Sri Krishna about the meaning of the different terms referred to by Him in the last two verses of the previous chapter. He wishes to know what is the Supreme Being, what is Karma or action that He refers to, and what is the meaning that pertains to this spirit, the elements and the centre of all things within this human body.
Beyond all things manifest and unmanifest, beyond these names and forms, there is the Supreme Being - Brahman. He indwells this body as the centre of all things, including even our own self (individual soul). We are a spiritual being residing in this body and supported by the Silent Witness within - the Supreme Atmaryamin. Prakriti or Nature is the being pertaining to the elements. Worship, prayer and offering to the gods with faith and devotion constitute actions that lead to blessedness.
Krishna tells Arjuna that the secret of breaking the cycle of life and death and the pains and suffering of this world is to constantly practice to remember the Lord at all times and places. This means in what ever we are doing daily, even at work. With this never ending practice of rememberance, and becoming firmly rooted in it so that even in the time of death (with this remembrance) one will go beyond darkness and bondage and attain the realm of eternal blessedness.
One must practice sense-control. The senses must be disciplined and gradually withdrawn from outside objects. The mind should be centered within upon God, uttering Om or any Divine Name. By such steady practice daily the Lord is easily attainable.
Lord Krishna explains how those who attain Him do not have to come again into this impermanent world of sorrow and pain....Even though there are auspicious and inauspicious circumstances of departing from the physical body and journeying forth, yet if one steadily aabides in the Lord through firm devotion and faith, then these conditions do not matter. In other words, as long as one is fixed on God, conditions and situations become auspicious and blessed. This is the secret of invoking His Grace and attaining Him and becoming eternally free and blissful.
8.1 - arjuna uvacakim tad brahma kim adhyatmamkim karma purushottamaadhibhutam ca kim proktamadhidaivam kim ucyate - "Arjuna inquired: O my Lord, O Supreme Person, what is Brahman? What is the self? What are fruitive activities? What is this material manifestation? And what are the demigods? Please explain this to me.
8.2 - adhiyajnah katham ko ’tradehe ’smin madhusudanaprayana-kale ca kathamjneyo ’si niyatatmabhih- "Who is the Lord of sacrifice, and how does He live in the body, O Madhusudana? And how can those engaged in devotional service know You at the time of death?"
8.3 - sri-bhagavan uvacaaksharam brahma paramamsvabhavo ’dhyatmam ucyatebhuta-bhavodbhava-karovisargah karma-samjnitah - "The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman, and his eternal nature is called adhyatma, the self. Action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma, or fruitive activities."
8.4 - adhibhutam ksaro bhavahpurushas cadhidaivatamadhiyajno ’ham evatradehe deha-bhrtam vara - "O best of the embodied beings, the physical nature, which is constantly changing, is called adhibhuta [the material manifestation]. The universal form of the Lord, which includes all the demigods, like those of the sun and moon, is called adhidaiva. And I, the Supreme Lord, represented as the Supersoul in the heart of every embodied being, am called adhiyajna [the Lord of sacrifice]."
8.5 - anta-kale ca mam evasmaran muktva kalevaramyah prayati sa mad-bhavamyati nasty atra samsayah - "And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt."
8.6 - yam yam vapi smaran bhavamtyajaty ante kalevaramtam tam evaiti kaunteyasada tad-bhava-bhavitah - "Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail."
8.7 - tasmat sarveshu kaleshumam anusmara yudhya camayy arpita-mano-buddhirmam evaishyasy asamsayah - "Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krishna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt."
8.8 - abhyasa-yoga-yuktenacetasa nanya-gaminaparamam purusham divyamyati parthanucintayan - "He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha, is sure to reach Me."
8.9 - kavim puranam anusasitaramanor aniyamsam anusmared yahsarvasya dhataram acintya-rupamaditya-varnam tamasah parastat - "One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun, and He is transcendental, beyond this material nature."
8.10 - prayana-kale manasacalenabhaktya yukto yoga-balena caivabhruvor madhye pranam avesya samyaksa tam param purusham upaiti divyam - "One who, at the time of death, fixes his life air between the eyebrows and, by the strength of yoga, with an undeviating mind, engages himself in remembering the Supreme Lord in full devotion, will certainly attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
Click here for the rest of the verses of chapter 8.
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