sarva-dvārāṇi saṁyamya
mano hṛdi nirudhya ca
mūrdhny ādhāyātmanaḥ prāṇam
āsthito yoga-dhāraṇām
SYNONYMS
sarva-dvārāṇi-
all the doors of the body;
saṁyamya-
controlling;
manaḥ-
mind;
hṛdi-
in the heart;
nirudhya-
confined;
ca-
also;
mūrdhni-
on the head;
ādhāya-
fixed
; ātmanaḥ-
soul;
prāṇam-
the life air;
āsthitaḥ-
situated;
yoga-dhāraṇām-
the yogic situation.
TRANSLATION
The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements. Closing all the doors of the senses and fixing the mind on the heart and the life air at the top of the head, one establishes himself in yoga.
PURPORT
To practice
yoga,
as suggested here, one first has to close the door of all sense enjoyment. This practice is called
pratyāhāra,
or withdrawing the senses from the sense objects. Sense organs for acquiring knowledge, such as the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and touch, should be fully controlled and should not be allowed to engage in self-gratification. In this way the mind focuses on the Supersoul in the heart and the life force is raised to the top of the head. In the Sixth Chapter this process is described in detail. But as mentioned before, this practice is not practical in this age. The best process is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one is always able to fix his mind on Kṛṣṇa in devotional service, it is very easy for him to remain in an undisturbed transcendental trance, or in
samādhi.
Bg 8.13
TEXT 13
TEXT
oṁ ity ekākṣaraṁ brahma
vyāharan mām anusmaran
yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ
sa yāti paramāṁ gatim
SYNONYMS
om
-the combination of letters,
omkāra; iti
-thus;
eka-akṣaram-
supreme, indestructible;
brahma-
absolute;
vyāharan-
vibrating;
mām
-Me (Kṛṣṇa);
anusmaran
-remembering;
yaḥ
-anyone;
prayāti
-leaves;
tyajan
-quitting;
deham-
this body;
saḥ-
he;
yāti
-achieves;
paramām
-supreme;
gatim
-destination.
TRANSLATION
After being situated in this yoga practice and vibrating the sacred syllable om, the supreme combination of letters, if one thinke of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and quits his body, he will certainly reach the spiritual planets.
PURPORT
It is clearly stated here that
om
, Brahman, and Lord Kṛṣṇa are not different. The impersonal sound of Kṛṣṇa is
om,
but the sound Hare Kṛṣṇa contains
om.
It is clearly recommended in this age that if one quits his body at the end of this life chanting the
mahāmantra
, Hare Kṛṣṇa, he will reach the spiritual planets. Similarly, those who are devotees of Kṛṣṇa enter the Kṛṣṇa planet or Goloka Vṛndāvana, whereas the impersonalists remain in the
brahmajyoti.
The personalists also enter many innumerable planets in the spiritual sky known as Vaikuṇṭhas.
Bg 8.14
TEXT 14
TEXT
ananya-cetāḥ satataṁ
yo māṁ smarati nityaśaḥ
tasyāhaṁ sulabhaḥ pārtha
nitya-yuktasya yoginaḥ
SYNONYMS
ananya-cetāḥ-
without deviation;
satatam
-always;
yaḥ
-anyone;
mām
-Me (Kṛṣṇa);
smarati
-remembers;
nityaśaḥ-
regularly;
tasya-
to him;
aham
-I am;
sulabhaḥ-
very easy to achieve;
pārtha-
O son of Pṛthā;
nitya-
regularly;
yuktasya-
engaged;
yoginaḥ-
of the devotee.
TRANSLATION
For one who remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Pṛthā, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.
PURPORT
In this verse the
bhakti-yoga
of the unalloyed devotees of the Supreme Godhead is described. The preceeding verses mention four different kinds of devotees-the distressed, the inquisitive, those who seek material gain, and the speculative philosophers. Different processes of liberation from material entanglement have also been described:
karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga,
and
haṭha-yoga.
But here
bhakti-yoga,
without any mixture of these, is mentioned. In
bhakti-yoga
the devotees desire nothing but Kṛṣṇa. The pure
bhakti
devotee does not desire promotion to heavenly planets, nor does he seek salvation or liberation from material entanglement. A pure devotee does not desire anything. In the
Caitanya-caritāmṛta
the pure devotee is called
niṣkāma,
which means he has no desire for self-interest. Perfect peace belongs to him alone, not to them who strive for personal gain. The pure devotee only wants to please the Supreme Lord, and so the Lord says that for anyone who is unflinchingly devoted to Him, He is easy to attain. The devotee can render service to any of the transcendental forms of the Supreme Lord, and he meets with none of the problems that plague the practitioners of other
yogas. Bhakti-yoga
is very simple and pure and easy to perform. One can begin by simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is very merciful to those who engage in His service, and He helps in various ways that devotee who is fully surrendered to Him so he can understand Him as He is. The Lord gives such a devotee sufficient intelligence so that ultimately the devotee can attain Him in His spiritual kingdom.
The special qualification of the pure devotee is that he is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa without considering the time or place. There should be no impediments. He should be able to carry out his service anywhere and at any time. Some say that the devotee should remain in holy places like Vṛndāvana or some holy town where the Lord lived, but a pure devotee can live anywhere and create the atmosphere of Vṛndāvana by his devotional service. It was Śrī Advaita who told Lord Caitanya, "Wherever You are, O Lord-
there
is Vṛndavana."
A pure devotee constantly remembers Kṛṣṇa and meditates upon Him. These are qualifications of the pure devotee for whom the Lord is most easily attainable.
Bhakti-yoga
is the system that the
Gītā
recommends above all others. Generally, the
bhakti-yogīs
are engaged in five different ways: 1)
śānta-bhakta,
engaged in devotional service in neutrality; 2)
dāsya-bhakta,
engaged in devotional service as servant; 3)
sākhya-bhakta,
engaged as friend; 4)
vātsalya-bhakta,
engaged as parent; and 5)
mādhurya-bhakta,
engaged as conjugal lover of the Supreme Lord. In any of these ways, the pure devotee is always constantly engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord and cannot forget the Supreme Lord, and so for him the Lord is easily attained. A pure devotee cannot forget the Supreme Lord for a moment, and similarly, the Supreme Lord cannot forget His pure devotee for a moment. This is the great blessing of the Kṛṣṇa conscious process of chanting the
mahāmantra,
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bg 8.15
TEXT 15
TEXT
mām upetya punar janma
duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ
saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ
SYNONYMS
mām-
unto Me;
upetya-
achieving;
punaḥ-
again;
janma-
birth;
duḥkha-ālayam-
place of miseries;
aśāśvatam-
temporary;
na-
never;
āpnuvanti-
attain;
mahātmānaḥ-
the great souls;
saṁsiddhim-
perfection;
paramām-
ultimate;
gatāḥ-
achieved.
TRANSLATION
After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.
PURPORT
Since this temporary material world is full of the miseries of birth, old age, disease and death, naturally he who achieves the highest perfection and attains the supreme planet, Kṛṣṇaloka, Goloka Vṛndāvana, does not wish to return. The supreme planet is described in Vedic literature as beyond our material vision, and it is considered the highest goal. The
mahātmās
(great souls) receive transcendental messages from the realized devotees and thus gradually develop devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and become so absorbed in transcendental service that they no longer desire elevation to any of the material planets, nor do they even want to be transferred to any spiritual planet. They only want Kṛṣṇa's association and nothing else. Such great souls in Kṛṣṇa consciousness attain the highest perfection of life. In other words, they are the supreme souls.
Bg 8.16
TEXT 16
TEXT
ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
punar āvartino 'rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate
SYNONYMS
ābrahma
-up to the Brahmaloka planet;
bhuvanāt
-from the planetary systems;
lokāḥ
-planets;
punaḥ
-again;
āvartinaḥ
-returning;
arjuna
-O Arjuna;
mām
-unto Me;
upetya
-arriving;
tu
-but;
kaunteya
-O son of Kuntī;
punaḥ janma
-rebirth;
na
-never;
vidyate
-takes to.
TRANSLATION
From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again.
PURPORT
All kinds of
yogīs
-
karma, jñāna, haṭha,
etc.-eventually have to attain devotional perfection in
bhakti-yoga,
or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, before they can go to Kṛṣṇa's transcendental abode and never return. Those who attain the highest material planets or the planets of the demigods are again subjected to repeated birth and death. As persons on earth are elevated to higher planets, people in higher planets such as Brahmaloka, Candraloka and Indraloka fall down to earth. The practice of sacrifice called
pañcāgni-vidyā,
recommended in the
Kaṭha Upaniṣad,
enables one to achieve Brahmaloka, but if, in Brahmaloka, one does not cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he must return to earth. Those who progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the higher planets are gradually elevated to higher and higher planets and at the time of universal devastation are transferred to the eternal spiritual kingdom. When there is devastation of this material universe, Brahmā and his devotees, who are constantly engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are all transferred to the spiritual universe and to specific spiritual planets according to their desires.
Bg 8.17
TEXT 17
TEXT
sahasra-yuga-paryantam
ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ
rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ
te 'ho-rātra-vido janāḥ
SYNONYMS
sahasra-
thousand;
yuga-
millenniums;
prayantam-
including;
ahaḥ-
day;
yat-
that;
brahmaṇaḥ-
of Brahmā;
viduḥ-
know it;
rātrim-
night;
yuga-
millenniums;
sahasra-antām-
similarly, at the end of one thousand;
te-
that;
ahaḥ-rātra-
day and night;
vidaḥ-
understand;
janāḥ-
people.
TRANSLATION
By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of Brahmā's one day. And such also is the duration of his night.
PURPORT
The duration of the material universe is limited. It is manifested in cycles of
kalpas.
A
kalpa
is a day of Brahmā, and one day of Brahmā consists of a thousand cycles of four
yugas
or ages: Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali. The cycle of Satya is characterized by virtue, wisdom and religion, there being practically no ignorance and vice, and the
yuga
lasts 1,728,000 years. In the Tretā-yuga vice is introduced, and this
yuga
lasts 1,296,000 years. In the Dvāpara-yuga there is an even greater decline in virtue and religion, vice increasing, and this
yuga
lasts 864,000 years. And finally in Kali-yuga (the
yuga
we have now been experiencing over the past 5,000 years) there is an abundance of strife, ignorance, irreligion and vice, true virtue being practically nonexistent, and this
yuga
lasts 432,000 years. In Kali-yuga vice increases to such a point that at the termination of the
yuga
the Supreme Lord Himself appears as the Kalki
avatara,
vanquishes the demons, saves His devotees, and commences another Satya-yuga. Then the process is set rolling again. These four
yugas,
rotating a thousand times, comprise one day of Brahmā, the creator god, and the same number comprise one night. Brahmā lives one hundred of such "years" and then dies. These "hundred years" by earth calculations total to 311 trillion and 40 million earth years. By these calculations the life of Brahmā seems fantastic and interminable, but from the viewpoint of eternity it is as brief as a lightning flash. In the causal ocean there are innumerable Brahmās rising and disappearing like bubbles in the Atlantic. Brahmā and his creation are all part of the material universe, and therefore they are in constant flux.