Gita 08.27 – Devotional consistency is more important than chronological accuracy
Bhagavad Gita 8.27 Naiteshwati partha janan yogi muhyatakashchana Smat sarveshu kaaleshu yoga yukto bhava arjuna Here Krishna is giving a call for action in the previous verses starting from 23 onwards till 28 those six verses he has given a quick recap of the Vedic paths of Deviyan and Pitrayan wherein timing is critical for determining a destiny post-mortem destiny where we go after death Now Arjuna may think, may worry that he is fighting in a war he is a warrior and although he is a top-notch warrior a peerless warrior still it is, victory is never certain in any war and a warrior can become a martyr within moments and of course the warrior is a martyr for those who survive to celebrate his martyrdom for the warrior if death comes he can in one moment at one moment he can be a illustrious famed hero or a chariot in the next moment he can be a corpse such is the unpredictability and death proneness of everyone's life but all the more so of the lives of warriors because their very profession at one level requires them to fight and be in near-death situations constantly so Arjuna hearing the description of how the timing is so important and all the more so because Krishna has said that Brahma Vidhojana that those who depart in Uttarayana will attain perfection now the Kurukshetra war is being fought in Dakshinayan and therefore it is almost impossible firstly for a warrior to be conscious of the timing of one's death you can't tell the enemy oh this is not the right time for me to die so please don't shoot me now the enemy is going to be ruthless so because of all these factors Arjuna may have anxiety about his fate Krishna doesn't refer directly to Arjuna here but he says what to speak of a warrior like Arjuna even for a yogi one does not be bewildered now what to speak of a warrior like Arjuna means that Arjuna is actually fighting war as a yoga when he is doing it in a mode of service to Krishna so Krishna is telling here Naite Sruti Partha Janan Naite Sruti Sruti you know Arjuna these two Yogi Muhyati Krishna Janan the yogis know both these paths but still Naite Sruti Partha Janan they are never bewildered what does it mean these timings are important in determining one's post-mortem destination but they are not all important there is some factor that is actually far more important some other factor that factor of course is the remembrance of Krishna so those who remember Krishna at the time of death they attain perfection irrespective of whatever else may be going on in their lives and whatever the circumstances may be whatever be the timing that does not matter all that matters is that they remember they remember Krishna so Krishna is telling over here now this one fourth of a verse is one line in the English transliteration Krishna has talked about this earlier also in in this very chapter Dasmat Sarveshu Kaaleshu Ma Manusmaru Yuddhicha Maiyarpita Manobuddhir Maamey Vaishyasya Samshaya he is talking about this in 8.6 therefore at all times Ma Manusmaru Yuddhicha remember me and fight Maiyarpita Manobuddhir Maamey Vaishyasya Samshaya with your intelligence and mind dedicated to me you will come to me of this there is no doubt so here Krishna repeats the same assertion in a sense which he has stated earlier in 8.4 so 8.4 and 8.6 give the same conclusion 8.4 says if you remember Krishna at the time of death you will attain him sorry not 8.4, 8.5 says that and 8.7 says the same thing again that if you remember Krishna throughout the life you will attain him and this verse states using the same one quarter of the verse Dasmat Sarveshu Kaaleshu here it says Yogayuktobhava Arjuna therefore be engaged in the practice of yoga Yogayuktobhava so we all need to stay engaged in yoga then 6.47 Krishna has already stated that Yoginavapisarveshamagatenantaratmana Shaddhavanbhajateyomamsreyuptamomataha he said that the yogis who meditate on him are the most intimately united with him and then it is also stated in this very chapter in 8.14 that that actually it is through the practice of bhakti alone that the process of yoga in general sense of connecting with the absolute truth becomes easy Ananyachetarsatatam Yomamsmarti Nityashahatasyahamsulabhaparthah Nityayuktasya Yoginaham so he stated that those who without being deviated in their consciousness stay fixed in remembering him for him, attaining him is easy Sulabhaha so Krishna although he doesn't use the direct first person pronoun to refer to him doesn't talk directly about bhakti but which yoga he wants us to practice he has made abundantly clear in the previous verses Tasmat Sarveshu Kaleshu Yogayuktobhava Arjuna Bhava Arjuna Bhava Arjuna Be Yogayukta Become Yogayukta so in the case of Arjuna for him his yoga is the yoga of fighting he has to recognize that he can serve Krishna but in Krishna's will and Krishna's will requires him to fight so harmonizing his will with Krishna's will through the act of fighting Arjuna will be doing yoga So Tasmat Sarveshu Kaleshu Yogayuktobhava Arjuna Now if this verse were referring to Ashtang Yoga the practice of Ashtang Yoga which requires going out to the jungles Chaudeshya Pratishtha Yastirmasana Maatmanaha as was talked about in 6.11 then this verse would mean Krishna is also not giving any exception that after you fight the war then you become Yogayukta Now he is saying Sarveshu Kaleshu at all times be Yogayukta Now Krishna has also told Arjuna to fight the war So if this were Yogayukta were referring to Ashtang Yoga then Krishna would have been giving contradictory instructions One is you go to the forest and practice Ashtang Yoga at all times and the other is fight the war So now if Arjuna had received contradictory instructions or if Arjuna had taken this interpretation of this verse of yoga to refer to going to the forest then he would have clarified I can't do both tell me what is the one thing to do and he has asked this question in a similar tone earlier in 3.2 specifically 3.1 and 2 but that Arjuna doesn't ask that question here indicates that he has understood that yoga means Bhakti Yoga and Yogayukta Bhava Arjuna means that he should actually become devoted to the practice of Bhakti Yoga and devoted to serving to serving Krishna and even if that serving involves fighting which as a martial activity may not seem spiritual to many people but still it is for him the most spiritual activity and the most spiritual awakening activity So Krishna tells Arjuna do not worry about your death just focus on about the timing of your death time of your death just focus on being Yogayukta and that is the instruction that applies to all of us too if we stay Yogayukta then whatever happens we don't have to worry what is the time we will die we can just focus on Krishna and we will attain Krishna.