Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 7

Chapter 8 – Akshara Brahma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च ।
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्मामेवैष्यस्यसंशयः (orसंशयम्) ॥

Transliteration

tasmātsarveṣu kāleṣu māmanusmara yudhya ca .
mayyarpitamanobuddhirmāmevaiṣyasyasaṃśayaḥ ॥

Meaning

Therefore remember Me at all times, and fight as well. With mind and intellect offered to Me, you will surely come to Me alone, without doubt.

Word meanings

तस्मात् – therefore
सर्वेषु कालेषु – at all times
माम् – Me
अनुस्मर – remember continually
युध्य – fight
च – and
मयि – in Me
अर्पितमनोबुद्धिः – with mind and intellect offered
माम् एव – Me alone
एष्यसि – you shall reach
असंशयम् – without doubt

Anvaya (word order)

तस्मात् सर्वेषु कालेषु माम् अनुस्मर, युध्य च; मयि अर्पितमनोबुद्धिः (त्वम्) माम् एव एष्यसि, असंशयम् ।

Explanation

Having said that the last thought decides the destination, the Lord now gives the only practical conclusion: "Therefore, at all times remember Me, and fight. With mind and intellect offered to Me, you will without doubt come to Me." The two commands, "remember" and "fight", sound opposed, yet the Lord links them with a single "and". This is the very heart of the Gita's practical philosophy.

"Sarveshu kaleshu", at all times, rejects the idea that spirituality belongs to the temple hour. The remembrance is to flow alongside the day's tasks, as a constant background. "Yudhya ca", and fight, rejects the opposite error of leaving duty for the sake of remembrance. For Arjuna the duty is literally to fight; for each of us it is the task in front of us: the office, the field, the kitchen, the classroom, the caring for a sick relative.

The offering of "mano-buddhi", mind and intellect, is the way the two are united. The mind, which feels and wants, and the intellect, which decides and judges, are placed in the Lord's hands. Then action flows from a centre that is already surrendered, and thus the action does not obscure the remembrance; it expresses it. The mind-and-intellect offering is a daily practice, not a one-time declaration.

Shankara explains that the constant remembrance should be with the performance of one's own duty, which purifies the mind, and that battle, being Arjuna's duty, does not clash with remembering the Lord; thus the person who does so will certainly attain Him. Ramanuja emphasises that fighting is to be done as an offering to the Lord, with the knowledge that He is the real doer. Madhva stresses that the warrior-duty is performed as service to Vishnu, and that He is attained through such devotion.

This is a very usable instruction. A surgeon can repeat a short prayer before each operation and do his work with full focus. A mother can dedicate the day's work silently as she begins. A driver or a clerk can reconnect with a simple thought, a name or a line of scripture in the pauses of the day. The mind that is trained this way will, by the principle of 8.6, also find the Lord at the final moment. Compare 3.30, which says to offer all actions and fight, and 18.57, which asks us to place the mind on Him in all actions, and 9.27.

Context

Verses 8.5-6 described remembrance at the time of death and the law behind it. Here the Lord gives the practical method to Arjuna: remember always while doing your duty.

Life lesson

Spirituality does not mean running from duty. One can keep the mind on God while working; that is the union of devotion and action in daily life.

Key terms

अनुस्मरण: continuous remembrance
अर्पितमनोबुद्धि: mind and intellect offered to the Lord
युध्य: do your duty; here, fight