June 16, 2024
tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpitamanobuddhir mām evai ’ṣyasy asaṁśayaṁ (VIII-7)
abhyāsayogayuktena cetasā nā ’nyagāminā
paramaṁ puruṣaṁ divyaṁ yāti pārthā ’nucintayan (VIII-8)
VIII/7. Therefore, at all times remember me only and fight.
With mind and intellect fixed (or absorbed) in me, thou
shalt doubtless come to me alone.
VIII/8. With the mind not moving towards any other thing, made
steadfast by the method of habitual meditation, and constantly
meditating (on the divine), one goes to the supreme person,
the resplendent, O Arjuna.
Swamiji's Commentary
Realizing that he is the immortal self or atman, he must behold the ever-active nature of God of which the self is but a silent, non-participant witness. The self, being non-different from the infinite, ceases to interfere in this shadow-play of nature on the ‘silver screen’ of God.
Established in this realisation, contemplation of the omnipresent God is not contradicted by activity. The yogi does not shy away from what must be done. With body and mind he works in this world doing his every duty flawlessly and efficiently. Only, in his heart, likes and dislikes, fear, pleasure and pain are absent. His inner being stands aside, ever vigilant yet uninvolved, in constant remembrance of God. This is ‘continuous meditation’, ‘dynamic contemplation’ or ‘contemplative dynamism’ – the innermost teaching of The Bhagavad Gītā. There is no suppression or repression, but a whole-souled participation in the divine will without the least tinge of egoism. Hence, the yogi is never drawn towards the objects, though he moves amidst them. He lives in God.