Bhagavad Gita 87: The Divine Poet Beyond All Darkness · Study guide

This lesson continues the eighth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Akshara-Brahma Yoga, with verses 9 and 10. Swami Jyotirmayananda opens with the question that runs under the whole chapter: how to live with the mind drawn to God, so that this life becomes the last of all lives. He begins with the soul’s oldest search, to love and to be loved in infinite measure. The soul has made that experiment through countless embodiments, and it is not fulfilled until the mind understands that its goal is God-realization. Verse 9 then gives a list of the attributes of God. Swamiji calls the verse a holy scripture given in a condensed manner, and he takes it point by point: God as kavi, the poet; puranam, beyond time; the inner ruler under whom every karma is regulated; subtler than the subtlest; the supporter of all; beyond the senses; effulgent like the sun; and beyond darkness. Verse 10 describes the person who, at the time of death, meditates on the Supreme with an unshakeable mind, fixing the pranas between the eyebrows. Swamiji explains the parallel in kundalini yoga and its three shaktis, and why daily practice, not a last effort, decides where the soul stands. If you read for one thread, follow the bird on the tree. The branches shake and may crack, but the bird knows it does not belong to the tree, and the whole sky is open to it.

Where each passage begins

A life with the mind drawn to God

The key to this part of the chapter, Swamiji says, is how to live your life with mind and soul drawn to God, absorbed in God. “So that this becomes your last of all lives.” “How to say goodbye to the world.” “Goodbye forever.” There is no pathetic note in that goodbye. The movement that leads to liberation is also the source of the good things in the world, the qualities of compassion, understanding, humility and mercy, and they are possible only when the mind understands that God is the reality behind all. “The general struggle for life is to find someone whom you can love.” And to find someone who loves you in infinite measure, both ways, lover and beloved. “You have done that experiment millions of times.” “Looking for love. Looking to be loved.” “And that applies even to the birds and animals.” The goal is reached when the mind understands. “The goal is God realization.” “Soul is not a separate entity.” Until that understanding comes, Swamiji says, the soul moves from one embodiment to the next, from bucket to bucket, and is not fulfilled. So the mind must keep an awareness of its goal: the real I am is God Himself. “Self-effacement enters in your personality. Greater is your fulfillment.”

Verse 9: the condensed scripture

Verse 9 reads: whoever thinks of the Divine Self as the omniscient, the ancient, the ruler of all, subtler than the subtlest, the supporter of all, whose form is inconceivable, effulgent like the sun, beyond darkness, attains the Absolute Self. The verse presents a holy scripture “in a condensed manner.” “Try to look, understand each point.” The first thing to understand is that God is always with you. The question is how the mind recognizes Him, and Swamiji’s answer is that the mind becomes fascinated by the attributes of God.

Kavi: God the poet

“And one great attribute God is kavi, He’s a great poet.” Ordinarily kavi means a poet; mystically it means the all-knowing, the omniscient. Then Swamiji turns the attention back to the first meaning. “The entire world, universe is like a poetry.” The beauty of poetry is that each time you read it, it gives a different meaning. Nature is the same. “Each time you walk through nature get a different perception” He draws a simple distinction between prose and poetry. Prose has a more mathematical nature. “Precise, you can’t build up your imagination.” Literature in poetry has a pervasive, expansive character, and so every religion has its chants and songs. The sages of the Upanishads were inspired by wisdom. “When they started writing, they didn’t succeed in prose.” “The words became poetic.” “Your thoughts bring about poetic expressions.” The same is seen in birds when they are very happy. “Poetic statements can be easily remembered, sung.” Swamiji recalls a folk song: the Himalayan mountain, standing aloft, is constantly giving you the message not to be afraid of storms and rains. The poetry is simple, and its meaning has many dimensions. “Poetries have a special capacity to reach out to people.” The Vedas and Upanishads, he adds, are written almost entirely in poetic form. But the same mind that composes poetry can lose it. If the mind goes along with its fancy, uncontrolled, filled with grief and constantly dreading something, “Then you lose that poetic capacity.” “Your imagination becomes very poor.” Through satsanga, japa, kirtanas, songs and a life lived in accordance with integral yoga, the thoughts move again with a poetic touch.

The poetry of creation

So God is kavi, the “Source of all inspiration.” “The entire world of past, present, and future, they are all comprehended by God.” And Swamiji points to how poetic the work is. God has taken the vastness, so difficult to handle, and turned it into a blue sky. Stars that are material and gross: “He has turned them into twinkle, twinkle little stars.” The very Earth is moving fast, yet we have no idea of it, “because God’s poetry has turned it around.”

Puranam: beyond time

The next characteristic is puranam. Purana means ancient. “Ancient in this context is timeless.” How ancient can God be? A billion years, a trillion years? “Rather, He is beyond time.” “Step beyond time and you are the oldest, the youngest.” “So do not think of God in terms of history. What did He do in the past?” The mind in its pettiness goes after such questions, looking for samples of His greatness. “But God is ever present reality.” And at the same time, timeless.

The inner ruler and free will

The verse then names God as anushasitaram, the ruler. “He keeps control over all.” Living beings, material objects, all names and forms. There is not a particle of matter that is not controlled by God. “How does He control it? He goes inside. He’s the indwelling presence.” His control is also external. Beyond our one sun there are thousands of suns, some so vast that ours pales beside them, and all those giant bodies “are kept under absolute control” So are the smallest things: a little seed of a herb, its tender roots finding the vulnerable points in the layers of earth, drawing the nutrition it needs, and “how softly it brings out its blossoms.” “How graciously all those things are happening.” The same Divine Self abides in every individual, constantly aware of the needs of the soul. “Nothing can happen unless that’s God’s will.” But Swamiji at once guards against a misreading. “The message is not to submit to it.” “Because God’s will also is that every soul should discover its free will.” “That’s God’s will.” By discovering your free will you come to understand that you are in tune with God. All karmas are regulated under God’s control. If you have not done a negative karma, you will not bear the fruit of someone else’s. “In ordinary administration, things go wrong.” “Somebody did the crime and somebody goes into the prison.” “In divine administration, there cannot be any flaw.” Let the mind soak in these points about God within. “Allow the mind to blossom with joy.”

Prahlada and the pillar

God is subtler than the subtlest. The human mind thinks in terms of external appearance: the bigger the temple, the better the experience of God. “There’s no harm in that, but the idea is God is everywhere.” The Puranic stories illustrate the point. Prahlada was a great devotee, the son of Hiranyakashipu, who saw Vishnu as his great enemy and wanted to destroy his own son. Every attempt failed. At last the king took Prahlada in his own arms and demanded to know who was protecting him, and where that God was. “And Prahlāda says, He’s everywhere.” “And at that time Prahlāda’s eyes were focused on a little pillar.” The king asked whether God was in that pillar, and the boy said yes. “Hiraṇyakaśipu bangs upon it.” Out of the crack emerges “Nṛsiṃha, man-lion form of God.” who destroys Hiranyakashipu. The story, Swamiji says, makes a simple point. The question is where God is, and the answer is everywhere, “Even in a little pillar.” “Pillar is a symbol of name form, names and forms. That’s what your mind goes after.” Break in between the vrittis of the mind, Swamiji says, crack that pillar with the mace of Tat Tvam Asi, and out of “your own mind, there will emerge a super conscious inspiration.” “So all that I’m trying to say is, God is everywhere.”

The supporter of all

God is sarvasya dhataram, the supporter of all. “How babies come into the world and God has already prepared nourishment for the baby.” Likewise all souls come, and “Karmically, all that is needed is presented to the soul.”

Beyond the senses

God’s form is inconceivable. “It is atīndriya, beyond the senses.” Whatever you experience through the senses is not reality even from a scientific point of view; otherwise no one would need telescopes or microscopes. “Sense based reality is actually senseless.” Not only the senses: whatever the mind can imagine, however magnanimous the imagination, “that cannot equal God” “The only way is possible when intellect turns into intuition.” “But intellect has to allow itself to be consumed by a mystic fire.” Through intuitive intellect comes darshan, the experience of God’s presence in a profound way. Meanwhile you are already experiencing God’s presence in many ways. “To the extent your mind becomes purified, you become aware of it.” As the intellect becomes clearer, the awareness of God’s presence becomes broader. “But actual God realization waits until your intellect turns into intuition.”

Effulgent like the sun

“The term effulgence has a mystical implication.” All your experiences are being illumined by your awareness. “Awareness is being described in the term of effulgence.” The whole world is experienced through the five senses. “If you lose one of the senses, one fifth of the world is gone.” Yet the senses are meaningless if there is no mind behind them. The Upanishad presents this in a series of questions between Janaka and Yajnavalkya. “Who is the light?” “The senses are the light, first answer.” “Then the mind becomes the light.” Without the intellect behind it, the mind’s perceptions are poor. “But even intellect is not the source. Consciousness, pure consciousness.” Behind your intellect it “is the light of all lights. Is the source of all awareness.” All the illuminations on earth are possible because there is a sun in the sky. “The sun therefore is the illumination of all illuminations.” “In the same way, Pure Consciousness within you is God, the Light of lights.”

Beyond darkness: a plate of prayers

Darkness is ignorance. Egoism, attachment, hatred and all negative sentiments come under the realm of darkness. “But the Divine Self, God, is beyond darkness.” Swamiji recites the prayer from the Upanishads: from the unreal lead me to the real; “From darkness lead me to light.” from death to immortality. “Prayers should enter the mind.” When you face challenging situations, or when the mind has time to go on imagining things, “Have a plate full of those prayers.” “and chew on them little by little.” “Enjoying their flavor.” He recalls the words sugandhim pushtivardhanam. “That will give you nourishment as well as fragrance.” “If you have nourishment and no fragrance, you stay stuck in one place.” With fragrance there is a buoyancy. “Your presence begins to inspire many people.” “This is called bhagavat-carcā”, talking about God. “Talking about God should not be so dry and so confusing and confounding.” “It should be the most joyous experience for your heart, for your mind.” When that taste has developed, “Thinking of God is not a problem.” Even at the time of death, especially then, nothing stays in the mind but the God you have been experiencing day by day. You are being enfolded by the Divine, like a river enfolded by the ocean. “Movement towards that end of life is not a tragic development.” It is a state of immense joy. “Breaking from all illusions forever.” The human mind comes under stress at the idea of leaving the body. “How long have I to live?” That is the dread of death. But if you practice integral yoga in daily life, with bhagavat smarana, bhagavat cintana, vichara, satsanga and righteous conduct, the future is never threatening. “Future rather is beckoning to you, an ocean like joy.”

The bird on the tree

Here Swamiji gives the image that opens the video. “A bird seated on a tree.” “It becomes aware of all the limitations of the tree.” “Leaves are shaking, the branches can be cracking.” But the bird knows that it does not belong to the tree, and that it has the whole vast sky to explore. “With that knowledge, the bird has no fear.” “The dread of losing the tree doesn’t exist.” That, he says, should be the condition of the soul that attains enlightenment.

Verse 10: the unshakeable mind

Verse 10 reads: at the time of death, whoever meditates on the Supreme effulgent Purusha with an unshakeable mind, endowed with devotion, fixing the pranas at the center between the eyebrows by the power of yoga, attains Him. How is such a mind developed? “A mind that has been tasting divine presence day by day.” “And that taste overpowers all tastes.” “Mind therefore becomes unshakeable.” “It’s like a bee that has become addicted to honey.” “It’s a good addiction.”

Kundalini and the three shaktis

Swamiji then gives a parallel. “That parallel is given with the study of Kundalini yoga.” “The potential of all the pranas exists at the base of your spine.” That potential is symbolic of the whole of Prakriti, the potentiality of the universe, called kundalini, Prakriti Shakti. A yogi awakens it by the practice of pranayama. “When awakened, the Kundalini moves from chakra to chakra.” The chakras are located in the spinal column, “But they are not physical centers.” There is a psychic personality within you that has a kind of correspondence with the physical body. Three chakras are very important. The navel center is the center of kriya shakti, and its deity is Durga Devi. It supports body identity. As long as the kundalini stays at the navel and the lower centers, “I am the body grips your mind and stays very firm.” If the kundalini moves on into the heart center, the anahata chakra, it meets the kama granthi, the “Knot of desires.” a complex of vasanas that grip the soul. When the kundalini passes through, “That Kama Granthi is destroyed” The shakti there is iccha shakti, and its deity is Lakshmi Devi. Your dependence on the mind lessens. “You will become a ruler of your mind.” The third center is the ajna chakra between the eyebrows, the seat of jnana shakti. “Viveka-buddhi, intellect that becomes intuitional.” “The deity of that Ājñā-cakra is Sarasvatī-devī.” “And Kundalini passes through these, leading your soul to enlightenment.”

The barometer and the practice

“But this entire study happens automatic.” You do not have time at the moment of death to look for the kundalini and awaken it. Swamiji compares the study to a barometer. “You look at the barometer and understand what the pressure is.” “But the pressure is not controlled by that instrument.” “In the same way, your daily Sadhana determines where your Kundalini should be higher or lower.” The practices of hatha yoga, asanas and pranayama are a great supplement, and they can blend into daily life wherever you are. So the fixing of the pranas between the eyebrows, which the Gita mentions, happens in a natural way. Such a soul “is not reborn again.” If you have developed an unshakeable mind and perfect devotion, and the mind is focused on enlightenment, “Automatically your pranas bring about Kundalini awakening.” “And your Ajna chakra blossoms.”

Terms in this lecture

kavi — poet; mystically, the all-knowing, omniscient God
puranam — ancient; in this verse, timeless, beyond time
anushasitaram — the ruler, who controls all from within and without
sarvasya dhataram — the supporter of all
atindriya — beyond the senses
darshan — the experience of God’s presence
Nrisimha — the man-lion form of God who emerged from the pillar
Tat Tvam Asi — “That thou art,” the great saying whose mace cracks the pillar of names and forms
vrittis — the modifications of the mind
bhagavat carca — joyous talk about God
bhagavat smarana — remembrance of God
vichara — inquiry into the Self
satsanga — the company of truth and of those devoted to it
Purusha — the Self, God
kundalini — the potential of all the pranas at the base of the spine; Prakriti Shakti
kriya shakti — the energy of action, at the navel center, presided over by Durga
iccha shakti — the energy of the heart center, presided over by Lakshmi
jnana shakti — the energy of knowledge, at the ajna chakra, presided over by Sarasvati
kama granthi — the knot of desires at the heart center
viveka buddhi — intellect that becomes intuitional

Questions for reflection

When you read a familiar verse or walk a familiar road, what would it take to receive it as poetry, with a different meaning each time?
Which pillar of names and forms does your mind keep going after, and what would it mean to find God there too?
Like the bird on the tree, what in your life are you afraid of losing, and what would change if you knew you did not belong to it?

Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 8, Akshara-Brahma Yoga, verses 9 and 10. Lecture 87 by Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda.

This study guide is drawn from the archived teachings of Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda.