Bhagavad Gita · Akshara Brahma YogaChapter 8, Shloka 3 (8.3)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
श्रीभगवानुवाच
अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते
भूतभावोद्भवकरो विसर्गः कर्मसंज्ञितः
॥ 8.3 ॥
akṣaraṃ brahma paramaṃ svabhāvo'dhyātmamucyate
bhūtabhāvodbhavakaro visargaḥ karmasaṃjñitaḥ
Translation
"The Blessed Lord said: Brahman is the supreme imperishable (akshara); one's own nature is called adhyatma; and the offering (visarga) that brings the states of beings into existence is called 'karma'."
Interpretation
Three definitions — two completely different readings.
Shankaracharya.
- Brahman: akṣaraṃ na kṣaratīti akṣaraṃ paramātmā — that which does not perish is the Supreme Self; evidence Brihadaranyaka 3.8.9: etasya vā akṣarasya praśāsane gārgi. "Akshara" here is not Om, because 8.13 speaks of Om separately; and the qualifier "paramam" fits only the unsurpassed Brahman.
- Adhyatma: tasyaiva parasya brahmaṇaḥ pratidehaṃ pratyag-ātma-bhāvaḥ svabhāvaḥ — that same supreme Brahman being present in every body as the inner self — "one's own nature".
- Karma: visargaḥ visarjanaṃ devatoddeśena caru-puroḍāśādeḥ dravyasya parityāgaḥ — the giving up of offerings such as charu and purodasha for a deity (yajna); etasmāt hi bīja-bhūtāt vṛṣṭy-ādi-krameṇa sthāvara-jaṅgamāni bhūtāni udbhavanti — from this seed, through rain and so on, all beings, moving and unmoving, arise (as in 3.14).
Acharya Ramanuja.
- Brahman / akshara: akṣaraṃ kṣetrajñaṃ samaṣṭi-rūpam — the jivas taken collectively; paramam akṣaraṃ prakṛti-vinirmuktātma-svarūpam — the self's own nature freed from prakriti (the goal of the seeker of kaivalya). Evidence Subala 2.
- Adhyatma: svabhāvaḥ prakṛtiḥ anātma-bhūtam ātmani saṃbaddhyamānaṃ bhūta-sūkṣma-tad-vāsanādikam — prakriti, which is bound to the self but is not the self — the subtle elements and their latent impressions.
- Karma: bhūta-bhāvo manuṣyādi-bhāvaḥ tad-udbhava-karo yo visargaḥ … yoṣit-saṃbandhajaḥ — the emission arising from the union of man and woman, which brings about birth as a human being and so on (the panchagni-vidya of Chhandogya 5.3.3); this is udvejanīyatayā pariharaṇīyatayā ca mumukṣubhiḥ jñātavyam — to be known by the seeker of liberation as something to turn away from and renounce (8.11 brahmacaryaṃ caranti).
The difference (central): Shankara — Brahman = the Supreme Self, adhyatma = the same in every body, karma = yajna; Ramanuja — akshara = the pure individual self, adhyatma = prakriti (to be given up), karma = the cause of the cycle of birth.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.