Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 2

Chapter 8 – Akshara Brahma Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन ।
प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोऽसि नियतात्मभिः ॥

Transliteration

adhiyajñaḥ kathaṃ ko.atra dehe.asminmadhusūdana .
prayāṇakāle ca kathaṃ jñeyo.asi niyatātmabhiḥ ॥

Meaning

O Madhusudana, who is Adhiyajna here in this body, and how is he so? And how are You known at the time of death by those who have disciplined themselves?

Word meanings

अधियज्ञः – Adhiyajna, the Lord of sacrifice
कथम् – how
कः – who
अत्र – here
देहे अस्मिन् – in this body
मधुसूदन – O slayer of Madhu
प्रयाणकाले – at the time of departure (death)
च – and
ज्ञेयः असि – are to be known
नियतात्मभिः – by the self-controlled

Anvaya (word order)

मधुसूदन, अत्र अस्मिन् देहे अधियज्ञः कः, कथं (च)? प्रयाणकाले च नियतात्मभिः कथं ज्ञेयः असि?

Explanation

Arjuna's seven questions began in the previous verse; here are the remaining two. First: who is Adhiyajna, and in what sense is he present in this body? Second, and far more practical: how do the self-controlled come to know and remember You at the moment of death?

The word Adhiyajna points to the presiding Lord of sacrifice, the one who grants the fruit of every offering. Arjuna asks how such a being can be in this body. Is it an outer deity, or a presence within the body itself? Behind the question lies the thought that every action of ours is a kind of sacrifice, so who is its owner and recipient?

The second question becomes the heart of the whole chapter. Prayana-kala means the time of departure from the body. The real test of a lifetime of practice comes at that moment, when body, senses and mind are all loosening. The word niyatatmabhih hints that only those who have trained the mind in advance can know the Lord then. Ramanuja reads this as asking by what means meditation on the Lord remains possible at the end.

In the verses that follow, Krishna first supplies the definitions (8.3-4), and then answers the second question at length from 8.5 onward.

Context

This is the second half of Arjuna's questions. The previous verse asked the meaning of five terms; here he asks about Adhiyajna and about remembering the Lord at death, which becomes the main theme of the chapter.

Life lesson

What matters most in a spiritual life is where the mind rests at the end. So train the mind now in discipline and remembrance, so that it will stand by you at the decisive hour.

Key terms

अधियज्ञ: presiding Lord of sacrifice, giver of its fruit
प्रयाणकाल: the final moment of leaving the body
नियतात्मा: one whose mind and senses are disciplined
मधुसूदन: a name of Krishna, slayer of the demon Madhu