Consciousness

Avinashi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam vinasham avyayasyasya na kashcit kartum arhati

Krishna says know that to be indestructible by which all this universe is pervaded. No one is able to cause the destruction of the imperishable. The soul pervades and underlies all of existence and cannot be destroyed by any force, since it is the very ground of being itself.

Acchedyo 'yam adahyo 'yam akledyo 'shoshya eva ca, nityah sarva-gatah sthanur acalo 'yam sanatanah

This soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can neither be burned nor dried. It is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.

Avyakto 'yam acintyo 'yam avikaryo 'yam ucyate tasmad evam viditvainam nanushocitum arhasi

The soul is said to be unmanifest, unthinkable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body. The soul transcends all categories of sensory and mental perception — it cannot be seen, thought about, or altered. Grief over the soul's fate is therefore completely misplaced.

Avyaktadini bhutani vyakta-madhyani bharata avyakta-nidhanany eva tatra ka paridevana

All created beings are unmanifest before birth, manifest in the middle state, and unmanifest again after death. So what is there to lament? Existence moves from the unmanifest through manifestation back to the unmanifest — what we call death is simply a return to the prior state. There is no cause for sorrow.

Ashcharya-vat pashyati kashcid enam ashcharya-vad vadati tathaiva chanyah ashcharya-vac chainam anyah shrinoti shrutvapy enam veda na chaiva kashcit

Some see the soul as amazing, some speak of it as amazing, some hear of it as amazing, and even having heard, no one knows it. The nature of the soul is the deepest mystery of existence. Despite philosophical discussion and scripture, the direct experience of the self eludes ordinary human comprehension.

Dehi nityam avadhyo 'yam dehe sarvasya bharata tasmat sarvani bhutani na tvam shocitum arhasi

The soul dwelling in the body of every being is eternal and can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any creature. Since the inner self is indestructible in all beings, grief over any loss of life is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what we truly are.

Yavan artha udapane sarvatah samplutodake tavan sarvesu vedeshu brahmanasya vijanatah

All purposes served by a small well can at once be served by a great reservoir of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the Supreme Brahman. When one has realized the Supreme, all the partial prescriptions of scripture are automatically fulfilled. The knower of Brahman transcends all ritual requirements.

Ya nisha sarva-bhutanam tasyam jagarti samyami yasyam jagrati bhutani sa nisha pashyato muneh

What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage. The world of sense pleasures that ordinary beings pursue is darkness (night) for the sage; and the inner world of the self that the sage inhabits is darkness (night) for ordinary beings. Wisdom and ignorance perceive entirely different realities.

Esha brahmi sthitih partha nainam prapya vimuhyati sthitvasyam anta-kale 'pi brahma-nirvanam ricchati

That is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man is not bewildered. If one is thus situated even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God. The final verse of Chapter 2 describes brahmi sthiti — the state of Brahman-consciousness — as the supreme destination. One who attains this state is never again deluded, and even at death merges into the Absolute.

Na hi kashcit kshanam api jatu tishthaty akarma-krit, karyate hy avashah karma sarvah prakriti-jair gunaih

No one can remain without action even for a moment. Indeed, all beings are compelled to act by their qualities born of material nature.

Brahmarpanam brahma havir brahmagnau brahmana hutam, brahmaiva tena gantavyam brahma-karma-samadhina

For those who are completely absorbed in God-consciousness, the oblation is Brahman, the ladle is Brahman, the offering is Brahman, the fire is Brahman, and the goal is Brahman.

Sarva-bhuta-stham atmanam sarva-bhutani chatmani, ikshate yoga-yuktatma sarvatra sama-darshanah

The yogis, who are united in consciousness, see the soul in all beings and all beings in the soul. They see the same in all.

Apareyam itas tv anyam prakritim viddhi me param, jiva-bhutam maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat

Beyond this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, know that there exists My superior spiritual energy (para prakriti), which consists of the living beings who sustain this world. Krishna distinguishes His lower material nature from His higher spiritual energy — the conscious living souls.

Adhiyajnah katham ko 'tra dehe 'smin madhusudana, prayana-kale ca katham jneyo 'si niyatatmabhih

O Madhusudana (Krishna), who is the lord of sacrifice (adhiyajna) and how does He dwell in the body? How are those of steadfast mind to know You at the time of death? Arjuna's final two questions — about the nature of divine presence in sacrifice and how to know God at death — set up the crucial teachings about dying consciously.

Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram, tam tam evaiti kaunteya sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

Whatever state of being one remembers when leaving the body at death, O son of Kunti, one attains that very state in the next existence, being always conditioned by that state of mind. This powerful verse reveals that the mind's content at the moment of death shapes the next birth — thus an entire life of practice is aimed at purifying the final thought.

Vedanam sama-vedo 'smi devanam asmi vasavah, indriyanam manash casmi bhutanam asmi cetana

Among the Vedas I am the Sama Veda; among the gods I am Vasava (Indra); among the senses I am the mind; among living beings I am consciousness. The Lord is the essence and most elevating principle in every domain — particularly notable is His identification as consciousness, the innermost essence of all life.

Kshetra-jnam chapi mam viddhi sarva-kshetreshu bharata, kshetra-kshetrajnayor jnanam yat taj jnanam matam mama

O Arjuna, understand that I am the knower of the field in all fields. Knowledge of the field and its knower I regard as true knowledge.

Jyotisham api taj jyotis tamasah param ucyate, jnanam jneyam jnana-gamyam hridi sarvasya vishthitam

That Brahman is the light of all lights and is said to be beyond darkness. It is knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the goal of knowledge. It is situated in the hearts of all. Brahman is the self-luminous reality that illumines all existence.

Yavat sanjayate kinchit sattvam sthavara-jangamam, kshetra-kshetrajña-samyogat tad viddhi bharatarshabha

Know, O Arjuna, that whatever being, moving or non-moving, is born, it is from the union between the field and the knower of the field.

Yatha prakaśayaty ekah kritsnam lokam imam ravih, kshetram kshetri tatha kritsnam prakasayati bharata

Just as the one sun illuminates the entire world, so does the one soul illuminate the entire field (body). As one sun lights the whole world, a single consciousness illumines the entire body — this analogy concludes the teaching on field and knower.

Rajas tamas chabhihuyya sattvam bhavati bharata, rajah sattvam tamas chaiva tamah sattvam rajas tatha

Sometimes sattva prevails, dominating rajas and tamas. Sometimes rajas prevails, dominating sattva and tamas. And sometimes tamas prevails, dominating sattva and rajas. The three gunas are in constant dynamic competition within every being.

Urdhvam gacchanti sattva-stha madhye tishthanti rajasah, jaghanya-guna-vritti-stha adho gacchanti tamasah

Those situated in sattva gradually go upward to higher planes. Those in rajas remain in the middle. Those in the abominable mode of tamas go downward. The three gunas create a vertical cosmology of ascent, stasis, and descent.

Mac-chittah sarva-durgani mat-prasadat tarishyasi, atha cet tvam ahankaran na shroshyasi vinankshyasi

If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. But if you do not work in such consciousness, but act through ego, you will be lost.