Chapter 8: Akshara Brahma Yoga – Comprehending the Imperishable Reality: Verse 2
अधियज्ञ: कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन ।
प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोऽसि नियतात्मभि: ॥
adhiyajña: kathaṃ ko’tra
dehe’smin-madhusūdana
prayāṇa-kāle ca kathaṃ
jñeyo’si niyatātmabhi: – 8.2
What is the adhiyajña (Lord of sacrifices) here in this body, O slayer of Madhu (Krishna)? Even at the time of one’s death, how are You to be known by the self-disciplined seekers?
Chapter 8: Akshara Brahma Yoga – Comprehending the Imperishable Reality - Verse 2
Ma Gurupriya
Yajña refers to sacrifice, in which something is always offered, which is received by whomever it is offered to. Fire occupied an indispensable place in sacrifice for this reason, as it consumed everything offered, giving the offerer the satisfaction that his offering has been accepted and used by the recipient.
In this sense, Arjuna wishes to know who indeed is the one in the living body, to be called adhi-yajña, the Lord of sacrifices. This shows how rational is every concept, pursuit and assessment in the field of spirituality. Nothing is said, heard or accepted, unless it conforms to the dictates of sustained reason. Does it not make our spiritual science acceptable, nay compulsive, to the modern human?
The world as well as our life being filled with diversity, it is very hard for one to preserve unflinching devotion to the Lord. Therefore, Arjuna seeks to know how one can preserve the thought of God at the time of death.
