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that shall be hereafter, but not one of them knows Me.

1

All beings, O son of Bharata! are bewildered in this world through the delusion of the pairs of opposites 1 that arise from love and hatred, O destroyer of foes!

But the men who are pure in their deeds, in whom sin is dead, these, freed from the delusion of opposites and steadfast in their vows, worship Me.

They who find refuge in Me and strive for deliverance from old age (1) and death know the whole Brahma, the Supreme Spirit and the complete Work.

The men, devout in mind, who know Me as Adhibhūta (Lord of beings), as Adhidaiva (Lord of gods), and as Adhiyajna (Lord of sacrifice), know Me indeed in the time of their decease.

1 The pairs of opposites in this present life, such as joy, pain, gain, and loss, make men unduly sensible of material things, and hence they suppose that such things ought to be objects of liking or disliking.

They are deceived. These things ought to be regarded with indiffer

ence.

The soul is not of them, and must find its proper condition by attaining to a complete absorption into the Supreme Brahma.

Thus the Bhagavad Gītā, Reading the Seventh, whose title is

"DEVOTION THROUGH SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT.”

PHILOLOGICAL NOTES.

(a) Pranava, lit. praise, a common expression for the mystic syllable OM.

(b) Tejas. "Fortitudo" (Lassen); "strength" (Thomson); "the glory (of the glorious)" (Telang). It has the various meanings of sharpness, light, splendour, and vigour. Sankara glosses it by prāgalbhya, rank, dignity.

(c) Gunamayair bhāvair. “By dispositions composed of the three qualities" (Thomson). Lassen translates bhāva by "affectus;" Burnouf, by "propriété." Bhāva means existence, manner of being, and the phrase denotes the separate natures of individuals formed by the various combinations of the modes of Prakriti (Nature). Sankara's interpretation is, "By objects formed by modifications of the modes."

(d) Asritas, lit. having gone to or entered. "Sectantes" (Lassen). The gloss of Srīdhara is, "Having obtained the very nature of Asuras." The word often means "having recourse to," "taking refuge with."

(e) Atyartham, supremely. "Above possessions" is the translation of Mr. Thomson, who supports his version by referring to the objects (arthās) which men seek to gain by offering sacrifice to gods. To the spiritually wise, the Supreme Brahma is the only object of desire. Atyartham is, however, used in the sense of extremely, without reference to possessions. In the Nalopakhyānam (Story of Nala xi. 20), it is said that a serpent seized Nala as she was wandering in a forest lamenting excessively (krandamānām atyartham) for the loss of her husband. A hunter, who had heard her loud wailing, came near and slew the serpent.

(ƒ)

(f) Atma + eva, "verily myself." Mr. Thomson would prefer an unsupported reading, atma+iva, as or like myself.

Lassen's rendering is, "Mei ipsius instar; " Burnouf's, more correctly, is, "Le sage, c'est moi-même." The scholiast Madhusūdana explains the passage na matto bhinnaḥ, is not separated from me.

(g) Prapadyate, falls down before, turns toward or ap proaches. Sridhara glosses it by bhajati, worships; Sankara by pratipadyate, returns. The latter seems the better interpretation.

(h) Tanu, body, and also skin, from tan, to spread out. Lassen translates it by "effigies;" Thomson by "personage." The word is used slightingly to denote that the gods are only material beings.

(i) Achalām śraddhām tām eva vidadhāmi. "Unicuique horum secundum fidem istam constantem ego (sortem suam) dispertio" (Lassen). Mr. Thomson calls this an "arbitrary and incomprehensible" translation. It is certainly arbitrary, because there is nothing answerable to secundum in the original, but it is not incomprehensible. Dr. Lorinser assumes that the verb, vidadhāmi, is equivalent to "ich vergelte," and his translation (I recompense the man who is always steadfast in this faith) nearly coincides with Lassen's. But this meaning does not belong to the verb. Mr. Thomson's version is, "I make that faith of his constant." The literal rendering is, "I impart even this unwavering faith."

(j) Tasyārādhanam, for tasyāḥ, &c., referring to tanu, a feminine noun (Lassen). "This one" is a contemptuous reference to the gods of the Hindu Pantheon. The more common arrangement is tasya ārādhana, the favour of this one; but Sridhara has tasyah, of this (form). Examples of such a compound are rare, but Lassen has given one from the Rāmāyaṇa (i. 45, 9).

(k) Yogamāyāsamāvṛitaḥ. "Surrounded by my magic illu sion" (Lassen and Thomson); "Enveloppé que je suis dans la

magie que l'union spirituelle (yoga) dissipe" (Burnouf). The latter version is quite untenable. Yoga means here the supernatural power which a perfect Yogin was supposed to obtain. The creative power of the gods was connected with yoga as meditation. "Then Vishnu, sprung from Brahma, removed from the sphere of sense, absorbed in meditation (Yogātmā), became the Prajapati Daksha, and formed numerous creatures (Mahāb. Harivansa, Sans. T. i. 152). In the same book Vishnu is called the great Yogin (or Meditator). Sankara, however, connects yoga (union) with the modes or constituent elements of Nature.

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(1) Jarā, old age. Mr. Thomson proposes to read janma, birth, but all the MSS., including three in my possession, read jarā. Janma would not be contrary to the metre, as K. T. Telang states, for the second syllable may be either long or short.

READING THE EIGHTH.

ARJUNA spoke.

What is that Brahma? what Adhyatman? what is Karma (Work), O best of beings? What is that thou callest Adhibhūta? and that called Adhidaiva?

How is Adhiyajna here in this body, O slayer of Madhu? and how do self-restrained men know thee at the time of their decease?

THE HOLY ONE spoke.

Brahma is the Indestructible and Supreme One;1 his proper nature (a) is called Adhyatman. The emanation that causes the birth of all living things is called Karma (Work).

1 The Supreme Indestructible One is Brahmă. He is called Adhyatman (Supreme Spirit) because he is, in his purely spiritual form, the highest being. When he becomes the source of life, he is then considered as having another form, and has a new designation, Brahmā. The creation (visarga, sending forth) of all separate life is called emphatically Work. Ananda, however, glosses the word visarga by "offerings such as are directed by śruti (revelation) and smriti (tradition), for they are the causes of life;" but the work here referred to is the especial work of Brahmā. Sankara also gives the sense of "offering" to visarga, a meaning

which it sometimes bears, or rather gift, donation in general; but I cannot think that it expresses the meaning of our author. He is Lord of beings, Adhibhūta, because he is their cause, both the efficient and the material cause. In the system of Patanjali, the Nature-form (Prakṛiti) of the Supreme is that from which all beings have sprung. This is termed by some Hindu writers as his sakti or energy, represented as being of a feminine kind. So also as creative force he is Adhidaiva, Lord of gods, and hence he is named Purusha (lit. Male), since "he is the cause of all life" (Sankara). The gods are only created beings. Cf.

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