Bhagavad Gita · Akshara Brahma YogaChapter 8, Shloka 9 (8.9)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
कविं पुराणम् अनुशासितारम्
अनोरणीयांसम् अनुस्मरेद् यः
सर्वस्य धातारम् अचिन्त्यरूपम्
आदित्यवर्णं तमसः परस्तात्
॥ 8.9 ॥
kaviṃ purāṇam anuśāsitāram
anoraṇīyāṃsam anusmared yaḥ
sarvasya dhātāram acintyarūpam
ādityavarṇaṃ tamasaḥ parastāt
Translation
"One who remembers that (Person) — all-knowing, ancient, the ruler of all, subtler than the subtlest atom, the sustainer of all, of inconceivable form, radiant like the sun and beyond darkness — (continued in 8.10)"
Interpretation
Eight qualities — eight doors to meditation.
Shankaracharya. Kaviṃ krānta-darśinaṃ sarvajñam — the seer of what lies beyond, all-knowing; anuśāsitāraṃ sarvasya jagataḥ praśāsitāram; aṇoḥ sūkṣmād api aṇīyāṃsam; sarvasya karma-phala-jātasya dhātāraṃ vidhātāraṃ vicitratayā prāṇibhyo vibhaktāram — the one who apportions all the fruits of action among beings in their many varieties; acintya-rūpaṃ na asya rūpaṃ niyataṃ vidyamānam api kenacit cintayituṃ śakyate — he has a form, but no one can conceive it; āditya-varṇam ādityasyeva nitya-caitanya-prakāśo varṇo yasya — like the sun, the light of eternal consciousness; tamasaḥ parastāt ajñāna-lakṣaṇāt mohāndhakārāt param — beyond the darkness of delusion, which is ignorance.
Acharya Ramanuja (8.9–8.10 combined). Aṇoḥ aṇīyāṃsaṃ jīvād api sūkṣmataram — subtler even than the jiva; sarvasya dhātāraṃ sarvasya sraṣṭāram; acintya-rūpaṃ sakaletara-visajātīya-svarūpam — whose nature is of a different kind from everything else; āditya-varṇaṃ tamasaḥ parastāt aprākṛta-svāsādhāraṇa-divya-rūpam — possessing a non-material, unique, divine form.
The difference: "Aditya-varna" — Shankara: the light of consciousness; Ramanuja: a real, non-material divine form.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.