In which verses of the Gita’s eight chapter are the Lord’s glories stated?
The chapter summary for 10th chapter says that the Lord’s aisvarya is the cause of Bhakti, which is discussed in the 7th, 8th and 9th chapter. The same is now explained in more detail. For 7th chapter, the verses are 7.8-12, and for 9th chapter, the are verses 9.16 to 9.19. Which are the verses for 8th chapter which discuss lord’s aisvarya?
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
along the same lines great question question from Ramabhadra Priya Prabhu the in the summary of the 10th chapter it is said that the lord’s glories have been described in the 7th, 8th, 9th chapters and they are further elaborated in the 10th chapter so now in the 7th chapter there are clear references where we can see the lord’s glories being described 9.4 to 10 or 7.3 to 6 later 7.7 to 11 also but where are lord’s glories described in the 8th chapter answer the 8th chapter is essentially a comparison between Ashtang Yoga and Bhakti Yoga and in that context the lord’s glories are described in 3 places firstly in the first 10 verses in 8.9 the verse which talks about the lord’s transcendental position that how he is this verse describes how he is the oldest, the wisest he is the most powerful, he is the sustainer of everything he is transcendental, beyond all darkness there are various attributes described this is one verse which describes how even the yogi should meditate on the supreme lord in this particular way so this is the first description of the lord’s greatness second description comes in 8.15 and 16 actually it is 14, 15, 16 but 14th I will discuss later again 15, 16 talks about how everything in this world is temporary and in contrast to that the lord’s abode is eternal so so 15 talks about how this world is dukkhalam, shashvatam and 16th talks about how even if one goes to the highest abode in this world still it is dukkhalam and it is a shashvatam one will have to come back but if one attains Krishna’s abode then one will not come back the same theme is further elaborated in 8.20, 21, 22 when Krishna earlier from 17 to 19 talked about how everything in this world is temporary even Brahma’s life is temporary, the universe exists for as long as Brahma exists and therefore universe is also temporary but Krishna’s abode is eternal and Krishna says that there is eternal nature in 8.20 that eternal nature which is indescribable which is inconceivable Krishna says that supreme abode is my abode and then Krishna says that that supreme person who is reigning in that abode can be attained by bhakti so here Krishna contrasts the temporary nature of everything in the material world and how every attainment in the material world will be therefore temporary and in contrast he is eternal, his abode is eternal and attaining him will be an eternal attainment and again he talks about so this is the lord’s glory because he is the supremely glorious destination so first he is the supremely glorious object of meditation then he is the supremely glorious destination and then lastly in the conclusion 28-29th verses it is described how 27-28 verses it is described how first Krishna says that there are devyan and pitrayan there are different ways for departing from the world and accordingly one will get different destinations but then in 28 and 29 he says don’t bother about this just fix your mind on me and those who fix the mind on Krishna what happens those who practice yoga now it’s not explicitly mentioned in these verses 27-28 that fix the mind on me it’s simply saying practice yoga but clearly he has mentioned earlier that the easiest way to practice yoga is to fix the mind on me as he has said in 8.14 that’s the person who is easily attain me so that’s talked about in 8.14 so what Krishna is talking about in 27-28 and then when he says in 28 that by yoga one will attain that which is attained by all other paths and one will attain something more that is the eternal abode so that is talking about how devotion to Krishna is the easiest way to attain that destination so that means we talk about how Krishna’s benediction in terms of the path of devotion is the greatest so in this way how Krishna is the highest destination how Krishna is the best object for meditation then Krishna is the supreme destination and Krishna offers the highest benediction in terms of the path of devotion so in these three ways the glories of the lord are talked about even in the 8th chapter thank you