किं तद्ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम ।अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तमधिदैवं किमुच्यते ॥
Kim tadbrahma kimadhyatmam kim karma purushottamaAdhibhutam cha kim proktamadhidaivam kimuchyate
Arjuna takes up the terms Krishna used at the end of chapter 7 (7.29–7.30). He asks Krishna, whom he calls Purushottama (the highest person): what is that Brahman, what is adhyātma, what is karma, what is called adhibhūta, and what is adhidaiva?
Explanation written for this site and checked against the cited edition. Free to quote with credit.
अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन ।प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोऽसि नियतात्मभिः ॥
Adhiyajnah katham kotra dehesminmadhusudanaPrayanakale cha katham jneyosi niyatatmabhih
He asks who is adhiyajña here in this body, and how; and how those who have mastered themselves can know Krishna at the time of death.
अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते ।भूतभावोद्भवकरो विसर्गः कर्मसंज्ञितः ॥
Aksharam brahma paramam svabhavodhyatmamuchyateBhutabhavodbhavakaro visargah karmasanjnitah
Krishna answers. Brahman is the imperishable (akṣara), the supreme. Its own nature (svabhāva) is called adhyātma. The creative outpouring (visarga) that brings beings into existence is called karma. The schools explain these terms differently (see the views).
अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम् ।अधियज्ञोऽहमेवात्र देहे देहभृतां वर ॥
Adhibhutam ksharo bhavah purushashchadhidaivatamAdhiyajnohamevatra dehe dehabhritam vara
Adhibhūta is all that perishes. Adhidaiva is the Purusha (the cosmic person). And Krishna himself, here in the body, is adhiyajña, the one to whom offerings go. He calls Arjuna the best of embodied beings.
अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम् ।यः प्रयाति स मद्भावं याति नास्त्यत्र संशयः ॥
Antakale cha mameva smaranmuktva kalevaramYah prayati sa madbhavam yati nastyatra sanshayah
Krishna answers the last question. Whoever leaves the body at the time of death remembering him alone comes to his state of being. Of this, he says, there is no doubt.
यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम् ।तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावितः ॥
Yam yam vapi smaranbhavam tyajatyante kalevaramTam tamevaiti kaunteya sada tadbhavabhavitah
Whatever state of being a person remembers at the end, when leaving the body, to that state the person goes, Krishna tells Arjuna (Kaunteya), because the mind has always been shaped by it. Both commentators explain that the thought at the end grows out of a whole life's thinking (see the views).
तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च ।मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्मामेवैष्यस्यसंशयम् ॥
Tasmatsarveshu kaleshu mamanusmara yudhya chaMayyarpitamanobuddhirmamevaishyasyasanshayam
So, Krishna says, Arjuna should remember him at all times, and fight. With mind and intellect offered to him, Krishna says, Arjuna will come to him without doubt. The remembering is meant to go on alongside the work, not instead of it.
अभ्यासयोगयुक्तेन चेतसा नान्यगामिना ।परमं पुरुषं दिव्यं याति पार्थानुचिन्तयन् ॥
Abhyasayogayuktena chetasa nanyagaminaParamam purusham divyam yati parthanuchintayan
Krishna says that a person who keeps meditating on the supreme divine Purusha, with a mind trained by steady practice (abhyāsa) and not wandering elsewhere, goes to him.
कविं पुराणमनुशासितारमणोरणीयांसमनुस्मरेद्यः ।सर्वस्य धातारमचिन्त्यरूपमादित्यवर्णं तमसः परस्तात् ॥
Kavim puranamanushasitaramanoraniyansamanusmaredyahSarvasya dhataramachintyarupamadityavarnam tamasah parastat
Krishna describes the one to meditate on: the ancient seer, the ruler of all, subtler than the subtlest, the support of everything, of a form beyond thought, shining like the sun, beyond all darkness. The sentence continues into verse 10.
प्रयाणकाले मनसाऽचलेन भक्त्या युक्तो योगबलेन चैव ।भ्रुवोर्मध्ये प्राणमावेश्य सम्यक् स तं परं पुरुषमुपैति दिव्यम् ॥
Prayanakale manasachalena bhaktya yukto yogabalena chaivaBhruvormadhye pranamaveshya samyak sa tam param purushamupaiti divyam
Such a person, Krishna says, at the time of departure, with a steady mind, full of devotion, and by the strength of yoga drawing the life-breath (prāṇa) to the point between the eyebrows, reaches that supreme divine Purusha.
यदक्षरं वेदविदो वदन्ति विशन्ति यद्यतयो वीतरागाः ।यदिच्छन्तो ब्रह्मचर्यं चरन्ति तत्ते पदं सङ्ग्रहेण प्रवक्ष्ये ॥
Yadaksharam vedavido vadanti vishanti yadyatayo vitaragahYadichchhanto brahmacharyam charanti tatte padam sangrahena pravakshye
Krishna will now describe briefly the goal that knowers of the Veda call imperishable, that disciplined people free from passion enter, and for which people keep the vow of brahmacarya (a life of study and self-restraint).
सर्वद्वाराणि संयम्य मनो हृदि निरुध्य च ।मूर्ध्न्याधायात्मनः प्राणमास्थितो योगधारणाम् ॥
Sarvadvarani sanyamya mano hridi nirudhya chaMurdhnyadhayatmanah pranamasthito yogadharanam
Krishna describes a yogic death: all the gates of the body (the senses) held in check, the mind kept in the heart, the life-breath placed at the crown of the head, steady in the concentration of yoga. The sentence continues into verse 13.
ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन् ।यः प्रयाति त्यजन्देहं स याति परमां गतिम् ॥
Omityekaksharam brahma vyaharanmamanusmaranYah prayati tyajandeham sa yati paramam gatim
Krishna completes the sentence. Whoever departs in this way, leaving the body while uttering Om, the one-syllable Brahman, and remembering him, reaches the highest goal, he says.
अनन्यचेताः सततं यो मां स्मरति नित्यशः ।तस्याहं सुलभः पार्थ नित्ययुक्तस्य योगिनः ॥
Ananyachetah satatam yo mam smarati nityashahTasyaham sulabhah partha nityayuktasya yoginah
For the yogi who remembers him constantly, every day, with a mind turned to nothing else, Krishna says he is easy to reach.
मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् ।नाप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः ॥
Mamupetya punarjanma duhkhalayamashashvatamNapnuvanti mahatmanah sansiddhim paramam gatah
Krishna says that the great souls (mahātmās) who have come to him and reached the highest perfection are not born again into this passing world, which he calls a home of sorrow.
आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन ।मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते ॥
Abrahmabhuvanallokah punaravartinorjunaMamupetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na vidyate
All the worlds, up to the world of Brahmā (the creator), are places from which beings return to birth, Krishna says. But one who reaches him is not born again.
सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद्ब्रह्मणो विदुः ।रात्रिं युगसहस्रान्तां तेऽहोरात्रविदो जनाः ॥
Sahasrayugaparyantamaharyadbrahmano viduhRatrim yugasahasrantam tehoratravido janah
Krishna says that those who know that a day of Brahmā lasts a thousand yugas (ages), and his night another thousand, truly know day and night. Even the creator's world, he is saying, is bound by time.
अव्यक्ताद्व्यक्तयः सर्वाः प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे ।रात्र्यागमे प्रलीयन्ते तत्रैवाव्यक्तसंज्ञके ॥
Avyaktadvyaktayah sarvah prabhavantyaharagameRatryagame praliyante tatraivavyaktasanjnake
Krishna says that when Brahmā's day begins, all manifest things come forth from the unmanifest (avyakta), and when his night comes, they dissolve back into that same unmanifest.
भूतग्रामः स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते ।रात्र्यागमेऽवशः पार्थ प्रभवत्यहरागमे ॥
Bhutagramah sa evayam bhutva bhutva praliyateRatryagamevashah partha prabhavatyaharagame
This same host of beings comes into being again and again, dissolves when night comes, and comes forth again at daybreak, Krishna says, not by its own will (avaśa).
परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः ।यः स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति ॥
Parastasmattu bhavonyovyaktovyaktatsanatanahYah sa sarveshu bhuteshu nashyatsu na vinashyati
But beyond that unmanifest, Krishna says, there is another unmanifest reality, eternal, which does not perish when all beings perish.
अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम् ।यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ॥
Avyaktokshara ityuktastamahuh paramam gatimYam prapya na nivartante taddhama paramam mama
Krishna says that this unmanifest is called the imperishable (akṣara) and the highest goal, that those who reach it do not return, and that it is his supreme abode.
पुरुषः स परः पार्थ भक्त्या लभ्यस्त्वनन्यया ।यस्यान्तःस्थानि भूतानि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ॥
Purushah sa parah partha bhaktya labhyastvananyayaYasyantahsthani bhutani yena sarvamidam tatam
That supreme Purusha, in whom all beings dwell and by whom all this is pervaded, can be reached by undivided devotion (bhakti), Krishna tells Arjuna.
यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः ।प्रयाता यान्ति तं कालं वक्ष्यामि भरतर्षभ ॥
Yatra kale tvanavrittimavrittim chaiva yoginahPrayata yanti tam kalam vakshyami bharatarshabha
Krishna now says he will describe the times at which yogis who depart do not return, and the times at which they do return.
अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् ।तत्र प्रयाता गच्छन्ति ब्रह्म ब्रह्मविदो जनाः ॥
Agnirjyotirahah shuklah shanmasa uttarayanamTatra prayata gachchhanti brahma brahmavido janah
Krishna names the first path: fire, light, the day, the bright half of the lunar month, the six months when the sun moves north (uttarāyaṇa). Knowers of Brahman who depart by this path, he says, go to Brahman. These verses describe two paths after death that are also found in the Upanishads (the bright path and the smoky path); the commentators explain them in their own ways (see the views).
धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम् ।तत्र चान्द्रमसं ज्योतिर्योगी प्राप्य निवर्तते ॥
Dhumo ratristatha krishnah shanmasa dakshinayanamTatra chandramasam jyotiryogi prapya nivartate
Krishna names the second path: smoke, night, the dark half of the month, and the six months when the sun moves south (dakṣiṇāyana). The yogi who goes by this path, he says, reaches the light of the moon and then returns. Shankara and Ramanuja both say 'yogi' here means a person of good works and rites, who enjoys their fruit and then returns to birth.
शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते ।एकया यात्यनावृत्तिमन्ययाऽऽवर्तते पुनः ॥
Shuklakrishne gati hyete jagatah shashvate mateEkaya yatyanavrittimanyayavartate punah
Krishna says that these two paths of the world, the bright and the dark, are held to be everlasting. By one a person goes and does not return; by the other a person returns again.
नैते सृती पार्थ जानन्योगी मुह्यति कश्चन ।तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु योगयुक्तो भवार्जुन ॥
Naite sriti partha jananyogi muhyati kashchanaTasmatsarveshu kaleshu yogayukto bhavarjuna
A yogi who knows these two paths is never confused, Krishna says. So Arjuna should be steady in yoga at all times. The verse turns from the hour of death to the whole of life: what Krishna asks of Arjuna is to live in yoga always, not to choose a time to die.
वेदेषु यज्ञेषु तपःसु चैव दानेषु यत्पुण्यफलं प्रदिष्टम् ।अत्येति तत्सर्वमिदं विदित्वा योगी परं स्थानमुपैति चाद्यम् ॥
Vedeshu yajneshu tapahsu chaiva daneshu yatpunyaphalam pradishtamAtyeti tatsarvamidam viditva yogi param sthanamupaiti chadyam
Krishna says that whatever good fruit is promised for studying the Vedas, for sacrifices, for austerities and for giving, the yogi who knows this goes beyond all of it and reaches the supreme, original abode. The two translations read 'goes beyond' (atyeti) differently: Telang says the devotee obtains all that fruit, Besant that the yogi passes it all by.