अक्षरब्रह्मयोगः

किं तद्ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम ।
अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तमधिदैवं किमुच्यते

kiṃ tadbrahma kimadhyātmaṃ kiṃ karma puruṣottama |
adhibhūtaṃ ca kiṃ proktamadhidaivaṃ kimucyate

What is that Brahman? What is adhyatma? What is karma, Purushottama? What is called adhibhuta, and what is said to be adhidaiva?

अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन ।
प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोऽसि नियतात्मभिः

adhiyajñaḥ kathaṃ ko'tra dehe'sminmadhusūdana |
prayāṇakāle ca kathaṃ jñeyo'si niyatātmabhiḥ

Who is the adhiyajna here in this body, and how does He dwell in it, Madhusudana? And how are You to be known at the time of death by those who have mastered themselves?

अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते ।
भूतभावोद्भवकरो विसर्गः कर्मसंज्ञितः

akṣaraṃ brahma paramaṃ svabhāvo'dhyātmamucyate |
bhūtabhāvodbhavakaro visargaḥ karmasaṃjñitaḥ

The supreme Imperishable is Brahman. Its own nature is called adhyatma. The offering that brings beings into existence is called karma.

अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम् ।
अधियज्ञोऽहमेवात्र देहे देहभृतां वर

adhibhūtaṃ kṣaro bhāvaḥ puruṣaścādhidaivatam |
adhiyajño'hamevātra dehe dehabhṛtāṃ vara

The perishable existence is the adhibhuta, and the Purusha is the adhidaiva. And I Myself, here in the body, am the adhiyajna, best of the embodied.

यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम् ।
तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावितः

yaṃ yaṃ vāpi smaranbhāvaṃ tyajatyante kalevaram |
taṃ tamevaiti kaunteya sadā tadbhāvabhāvitaḥ

Kaunteya, whatever state of being one remembers when finally leaving the body, to that very state one goes, having always been absorbed in it.

अभ्यासयोगयुक्तेन चेतसा नान्यगामिना ।
परमं पुरुषं दिव्यं याति पार्थानुचिन्तयन्

abhyāsayogayuktena cetasā nānyagāminā |
paramaṃ puruṣaṃ divyaṃ yāti pārthānucintayan

Partha, with a mind trained by the yoga of constant practice and straying nowhere else, one who meditates on the supreme divine Purusha goes to Him.

कविं पुराणमनुशासितारमणोरणीयांसमनुस्मरेद्यः ।
सर्वस्य धातारमचिन्त्यरूपमादित्यवर्णं तमसः परस्तात्

kaviṃ purāṇamanuśāsitāramaṇoraṇīyāṃsamanusmaredyaḥ |
sarvasya dhātāramacintyarūpamādityavarṇaṃ tamasaḥ parastāt

One should meditate on the all-knowing, the Ancient, the Ruler, subtler than the subtle, the sustainer of all, whose form is beyond thought, radiant like the sun, beyond all darkness.

प्रयाणकाले मनसाचलेन
भक्त्या युक्तो योगबलेन चैव ।
भ्रुवोर्मध्ये प्राणमावेश्य सम्यक्
स तं परं पुरुषमुपैति दिव्यम्

prayāṇakāle manasācalena
bhaktyā yukto yogabalena caiva |
bhruvormadhye prāṇamāveśya samyak
sa taṃ paraṃ puruṣamupaiti divyam

At the time of departure, with an unmoving mind, joined with devotion and the strength of yoga, drawing the prana fully between the brows, he reaches that supreme divine Purusha.

यदक्षरं वेदविदो वदन्ति
विशन्ति यद्यतयो वीतरागाः ।
यदिच्छन्तो ब्रह्मचर्यं चरन्ति
तत्ते पदं संग्रहेण प्रवक्ष्ये

yadakṣaraṃ vedavido vadanti
viśanti yadyatayo vītarāgāḥ |
yadicchanto brahmacaryaṃ caranti
tatte padaṃ saṃgraheṇa pravakṣye

That which knowers of the Veda call the Imperishable, which ascetics free of passion enter, desiring which they live the life of brahmacharya, that state I shall tell you briefly.

सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च ।
मूर्ध्न्याधायात्मनः प्राणमास्थितो योगधारणाम्

sarvadvārāṇi saṃyamya mano hṛdi nirudhya ca |
mūrdhnyādhāyātmanaḥ prāṇamāsthito yogadhāraṇām

Closing all the gates of the senses, holding the mind within the heart, placing his prana in the head, established in the concentration of yoga,

ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन् ।
यः प्रयाति त्यजन्देहं स याति परमां गतिम्

omityekākṣaraṃ brahma vyāharanmāmanusmaran |
yaḥ prayāti tyajandehaṃ sa yāti paramāṃ gatim

Uttering Om, the one-syllabled Brahman, and remembering Me, whoever departs leaving the body reaches the highest goal.

मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् ।
नाप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः

māmupetya punarjanma duḥkhālayamaśāśvatam |
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṃsiddhiṃ paramāṃ gatāḥ

Having come to Me, the great souls who have reached the highest perfection do not take birth again, which is the home of sorrow and impermanent.

आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन ।
मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते

ābrahmabhuvanāllokāḥ punarāvartino'rjuna |
māmupetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na vidyate

Arjuna, all worlds up to the world of Brahma are subject to return. But for one who comes to Me, Kaunteya, there is no rebirth.

सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद्ब्रह्मणो विदुः ।
रात्रिं युगसहस्रान्तां तेऽहोरात्रविदो जनाः

sahasrayugaparyantamaharyadbrahmaṇo viduḥ |
rātriṃ yugasahasrāntāṃ te'horātravido janāḥ

Those who know that a day of Brahma lasts a thousand yugas, and that his night ends only after a thousand yugas, are the ones who know day and night.

अव्यक्ताद्व्यक्तयः सर्वाः प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे ।
रात्र्यागमे प्रलीयन्ते तत्रैवाव्यक्तसंज्ञके

avyaktādvyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavantyaharāgame |
rātryāgame pralīyante tatraivāvyaktasaṃjñake

When that day dawns, all manifest things come forth from the unmanifest. When night falls, they dissolve into that very thing called the unmanifest.

भूतग्रामः स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते ।
रात्र्यागमेऽवशः पार्थ प्रभवत्यहरागमे

bhūtagrāmaḥ sa evāyaṃ bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate |
rātryāgame'vaśaḥ pārtha prabhavatyaharāgame

Partha, this same multitude of beings, coming into being again and again, dissolves helplessly as night arrives, and comes forth again when day dawns.

परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः ।
यः स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति

parastasmāttu bhāvo'nyo'vyakto'vyaktātsanātanaḥ |
yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu na vinaśyati

But beyond that unmanifest there is another Unmanifest, eternal, which does not perish when all beings perish.

अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम् ।
यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम

avyakto'kṣara ityuktastamāhuḥ paramāṃ gatim |
yaṃ prāpya na nivartante taddhāma paramaṃ mama

That Unmanifest is called the Imperishable, and it is declared the highest goal. Those who reach it do not return. That is My supreme abode.

पुरुषः स परः पार्थ भक्त्या लभ्यस्त्वनन्यया ।
यस्यान्तःस्थानि भूतानि येन सर्वमिदं ततम्

puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyastvananyayā |
yasyāntaḥsthāni bhūtāni yena sarvamidaṃ tatam

Partha, that supreme Purusha, within whom all beings dwell and by whom all this is pervaded, is reached by undivided devotion.

यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः ।
प्रयाता यान्ति तं कालं वक्ष्यामि भरतर्षभ

yatra kāle tvanāvṛttimāvṛttiṃ caiva yoginaḥ |
prayātā yānti taṃ kālaṃ vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha

Best of the Bharatas, I shall now tell you the times at which yogis depart and do not return, and the times at which they depart and return.

अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् ।
तत्र प्रयाता गच्छन्ति ब्रह्म ब्रह्मविदो जनाः

agnirjyotirahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam |
tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahmavido janāḥ

Fire, light, day, the bright fortnight, the six months of the sun's northward course: departing by this path, those who know Brahman go to Brahman.

धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम् ।
तत्र चान्द्रमसं ज्योतिर्योगी प्राप्य निवर्तते

dhūmo rātristathā kṛṣṇaḥ ṣaṇmāsā dakṣiṇāyanam |
tatra cāndramasaṃ jyotiryogī prāpya nivartate

Smoke, night, the dark fortnight, the six months of the sun's southward course: by this path the yogi reaches the light of the moon and returns.

शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते ।
एकया यात्यनावृत्तिमन्ययावर्तते पुनः

śuklakṛṣṇe gatī hyete jagataḥ śāśvate mate |
ekayā yātyanāvṛttimanyayāvartate punaḥ

These two paths of the world, the bright and the dark, are held to be eternal. By the one a person goes and does not return; by the other he comes back again.

नैते सृती पार्थ जानन्योगी मुह्यति कश्चन ।
तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु योगयुक्तो भवार्जुन

naite sṛtī pārtha jānanyogī muhyati kaścana |
tasmātsarveṣu kāleṣu yogayukto bhavārjuna

Partha, no yogi who knows these two paths is ever deluded. Therefore, Arjuna, be steadfast in yoga at all times.

वेदेषु यज्ञेषु तपःसु चैव
दानेषु यत् पुण्यफलं प्रदिष्टम् ।
अत्येति तत्सर्वमिदं विदित्वा
योगी परं स्थानमुपैति चाद्यम्

vedeṣu yajñeṣu tapaḥsu caiva
dāneṣu yat puṇyaphalaṃ pradiṣṭam |
atyeti tatsarvamidaṃ viditvā
yogī paraṃ sthānamupaiti cādyam

Whatever fruit of merit is declared for the Vedas, for yajnas, for tapas and for gifts, the yogi who knows this goes beyond it all and reaches the supreme, primal abode.