Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
Swami Sivananda
8.13 Om? इति thus? एकाक्षरम् onesyllabled? ब्रह्म Brahman? व्याहरन् uttering? माम् Me? अनुस्मरन् remembering? यः who? प्रयाति departs? त्यजन् leaving? देहम् the body? सः he? याति attains? परमाम् supreme? गतिम् goal.Commentary Having controlled the thoughts the Yogi ascends by the Sushumna? the Nadi (subtle psychic nervechannel) which passes upwards from the heart. He fixes his whole Prana or lifreath in the crown of the head in the Brahmarandhra or the hole of Brahman. He utters the sacred monosyllable Om? meditates on Me and leaves the body.
Swami Chinmayananda
BG 8.13
In the practice of meditation, the seeker must accomplish three essential disciplines to focus the mind with success and skillfulness. These three are described in the verses that follow, and they are to be practiced in the order presented.
(a) **Restraining the mind through the senses:** The sense organs are located in the gross physical body. The ears, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose are the five gateways through which sensations of external objects enter the mind and disturb it. Through discrimination and dispassion, the first practice is to restrain or block these sensory gateways—without this foundation, one cannot enter into meditation. Through these gateways, not only do external objects enter the mind, but the mind itself wanders and roams through external objects. When these tunnels of distraction are blocked, the very flow of new distractions ceases.
(b) **Establishing the mind in the heart:** Although the senses may be restrained and external objects cannot disturb the mind, the mind can still be agitated by memories of past sensory experiences and the desires born from them. Therefore, the teaching is given to establish the mind in the heart. In Vedanta, the heart does not refer to the physical organ that circulates blood. In literature and philosophy, the heart is the eternal source of noble and creative sentiments—affection and compassion, mercy and grace, devotion and surrender. After blocking the entry of sensations from external gross objects, the seeker should purify and elevate the mind through constructive emotions, not suppress it. The mind should be steadied in the elevated and noble atmosphere of the heart. Through constructive thoughts, the mind's distractions can be minimized. Negative thoughts are those that agitate and scatter the mind.
(c) **Establishing the vital force in the intellect, that is, in wisdom:** This means withdrawing the intellect from all lower-level thoughts and objects. Through the continuous process of self-inquiry, the intellect can be turned away from objects. When these three disciplines are accomplished, the firm establishment of the mind in self-inquiry is called yoga-dharana—the concentration of yoga.
The seeker who can forget the material environment around him and bring the mind under the discipline of the intellect with a heart full of joy and contentment can utter Om with ease and enthusiasm. That person alone is worthy of Om-meditation who can witness, as a silent observer, the Om-vibrations arising in the peaceful mind. The next line of the verse clarifies this truth.
**Departing from the body:** Through contemplation on the utterance of Om and its ultimate meaning, the seeker rises above his identification with false, inert limitations, and thus egoism is destroyed. This is true death—the death of body-identification. By meditating on the ultimate meaning of Om, the seeker attains the supreme goal, for its meaning is that supreme foundation upon which the imagined drama of birth and death is enacted.
Is self-realization equally difficult for all seekers who walk the path of meditation? The Lord answers—
This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.