Chapter 8: Akshara Brahma Yoga – Comprehending the Imperishable Reality: Verse 28
वेदेषु यज्ञेषु तप:सु चैव दानेषु यत्पुण्यफलं प्रदिष्टम् ।
अत्येति तत्सर्वमिदं विदित्वा योगी परं स्थानमुपैति चाद्यम् ॥
vedeṣu yajñeṣu tapa:su caiva
dāneṣu yat-puṇya-phalaṃ pradiṣṭam
aty-eti tat-sarvam-idaṃ viditvā
yogī paraṃ sthānam-upaiti cādyam– 8.28
Knowing the secret about this path of inner sovereign brilliance, the yogi outlives all the holy rewards and fruitions Vedas declare in the form of yajñas, austerities and dāna, and attains the supreme primordial Abode.
Chapter 8: Akshara Brahma Yoga – Comprehending the Imperishable Reality - Verse 28
Ma Gurupriya
Krishna, right from the beginning, has been emphasizing the pursuit of singular wisdom in preference to all else. The Sānkhya exposition itself evidences this unmistakably (2.21,45,49,50).
Here too Krishna is upholding the same wisdom path of knowing the lasting and fleeting (2.16), rising above the three guṇas of Prakṛti, and pursuing the non-dual Truth (2.45). Viveka should guide the seeker in rising above the results Vedic study, performance of rituals, yajñas, austerities, etc. are said to bestow. He should take to samatva-buddhi yoga (2.15,38,49,50) Krishna propounds, thereby attaining the supreme abode here itself (2.53). Remember vyavasāyātmikā-buddhiḥ, he described in the 2nd chapter (2.41).
