Gita 08.02 – Death is not the termination of life but its testing ground
Bhagavad Gita 8.2 Adhyagyan katham kothra Dehe smin kathmata soodana Prayana kaale chikatham Geyo siniyat atma bhi So here, Arjuna is now raising further questions based on the terms that Krishna has spoken in the last verse of the 8th chapter That verse was Sadhibhutadidai vammam sadhyagyam jaye viduhu prayana kaale chimam te vidur yukta cheta saham So those who understand Krishna to be the Adhibhuta, the Adhidaiva, the Adhyagya they can know him even at the time of death such people yukta cheta saham those whose consciousness is connected through yoga Arjuna is asking about those people now Adhyagyam katham kothra katham who is Adhyagyan? Adhyagyam kothra Dehe smin mata soodana and how is Adhyagya situated in the body? prayana kaale chikatham and how at the time of prayana kaale gheyo si niyataatmabhi can one know the niyataatmabhi niyataatmabhi means those who has those who are regulated niyataatma, niyata is regulation those who are regulated how can they know? so here Krishna is stating that Arjuna Krishna is asking this there are three questions essentially Adhyagya, who is Adhyagya? now Krishna has talked about the concept of Adhyagya especially in the third chapter when he has said Adhyagya athaatkarmanon yatra lokoyan karma bandhanat tam karma kaunteya mukta sangha samachari 3.9 he said that and then after that from 3.10 to 16 he talked about the concept of Adhyagya and thereafter in the fourth chapter also 4.24 there was a brahmaarpanam filled with repetitions and then replete with yagya imagery and then theme of yagya comes actually from there onwards 4.33 so there is the lord of yagya Adhyagya so who exactly is Adhyagya? now interestingly Krishna has stated that one who understands him to be the Adhibhuta Adityaiva Adhyagya is a person who will be well situated even at the time of death so when Krishna has already stated that you have to understand me as Adhyagya why is Arjuna asking this question actually sometimes there is an immediate reference and there is an ultimate reference for nouns or for pointing objects so here Arjuna is being asked this question Arjuna is asking that Adhyagya so who is the Adhyagya? so words can have immediate and ultimate reference so for example if we ask who is in charge? now that we use the reference open to interpretation who is in charge of this room? who is in charge of this office? who is in charge of this wing of the factory? who is in charge of the factory? who is in charge of the country? so the question who is in charge can have multiple levels of answers who is the Adhyagya? how is he situated in the body? we see there is a consistent denial of death in much of today's mainstream culture in contrast we see in most western culture in spiritual culture rather not western culture in spiritual culture there is a candid acknowledgement of the reality and inevitability of death and based on that acknowledgement there is a further recognition that we as individuals need to take care of cultivating the right consciousness at the moment of death if we don't take care of this then what is likely to happen is that whatever we have developed our attachment to that is what we will think about at the time of death the whole Shrimad Bhagavatam is focused on death but it is not a morbid obsession wherein a person just dwells on death because one likes to feel pain, one likes to feel misery so it's not a morbid obsession with death it's a recognition that there is death which is inevitable and there is the reality of life which needs to be confronted and rather than seeing these two as opposites rather than seeing that death is we all want to live and death is the ultimate defeat in our struggle to live instead we see death as more of a testing ground for life at another level of reality in a materialistic conception of life death represents the ultimate defeat we just cease to exist thereafter but in the spiritual conception of life we recognize that death is not the ultimate defeat rather death is an opportunity to ascend to a higher level of reality we at our core are spiritual beings and to the extent we recognize our spirituality to the extent we realize our spirituality recognize means to, it's like when we recognize a particular person that means something is cognize and recognize means to know, recognize means to know once again like sometimes when we meet an old friend after a long time and that friend asks do you recognize me that means recognize you know me but do you identify me now that's recognition and realization realization means we actually become aware of our spiritual reality aware of our spiritual nature so in spiritual circles the recognition and realization both go in parallel and with respect to the understanding of the Atma here we talked about especially in terms of the recollection at the moment of death the central point here is that actually to the extent we remember Krishna to that extent we will be able to go beyond the illusions that characterize us in material existence and we will attain eternal spiritual existence so Arjuna's question is that Niyata Atma Bhi the one who lives in a regulated way in this life how can such a person know you and remember you, focus the consciousness on you at the time of death this answer to this question will become a major part of this chapter itself as we will see.