Whosoever meditates on the Omniscient, the Ancient, the Ruler (of the whole world), minuter than an atom, the supporter of all, of inconceivable form, effulgent like the sun and beyond the darkness of ignorance.
In simple words
Krishna describes what to meditate on: "Meditate on the one who knows everything, who is more ancient than time itself, who governs the entire universe, who is smaller than the smallest atom yet supports everything, whose form is beyond imagination, who shines like the sun, and who exists beyond all darkness."
Word-by-word meanings
कविम्Omniscientपुराणम्Ancientअनुशासितारम्the Ruler (of the whole world)अणोःthan atomअणीयांसम्minuterअनुस्मरेत्remembersयःwhoसर्वस्यof allधातारम्supporterअचिन्त्यरूपम्one whose form is inconceivableआदित्यवर्णम्effulgent like the sunतमसःfrom the darkness (of ignorance)परस्तात्beyond
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
Swami Sivananda
8.9 कविम् Omniscient? पुराणम् Ancient? अनुशासितारम् the Ruler (of the whole world)? अणोः than atom? अणीयांसम् minuter? अनुस्मरेत् remembers? यः who? सर्वस्य of all? धातारम् supporter? अचिन्त्यरूपम् one whose form is inconceivable? आदित्यवर्णम् effulgent like the sun? तमसः from the darkness (of ignorance)? परस्तात् beyond.Commentary Kavim The sage? seer or poet? the omniscient.The Lord dispenses the fruits of actions of the Jivas (individual souls). He is the Ruler of the world. It is very difficult to conceive the form of the Lord. He is selfluminous and He illumies everything like the sun.
Swami Chinmayananda
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.
# BG 8.9
Through the concentrated focus of the mind upon the Self in meditation, the spiritual aspirant develops firm spiritual impressions in consciousness. It is natural that such a practitioner will remember the nature of the Self even at the moment of death. Earlier verses have also indicated that in this very life, the destruction of ego and liberation while living are possible. The complete eradication of these false notions born of ignorance and the corruptions of pride and delusion arising from them can occur only when the practitioner, through the discipline of meditation, entirely abandons the false identification with the inert coverings of body and mind.
In the previous verse, there was only an obscure indication that one should meditate upon the Self as the supreme divine Being. Yet without understanding the full meaning of these words, meditation upon them cannot be truly possible, for they would then be merely meaningless sounds or empty words. Just as I cannot meditate upon a thing called "oxygenelitene" merely because someone instructs me to, since it is only a word—this scripture, which teaches the art of living Vedanta in daily life, must provide further clarification of this practice. The two verses under consideration contain a detailed exposition of this discipline, which any sincere practitioner can successfully employ.
The many descriptive attributes given in this verse point toward (rather than define) that Truth—an essential reality by virtue of which even inert and illusory objects appear conscious and real. Therefore, no single attribute should be understood as complete in itself. In geometry, an unknown point is located only by reference to two known points. Similarly here, the indescribable Reality is precisely indicated through these attributes.
To contemplate these words means to create within one's inner being an atmosphere in which a well-integrated and inward-turned mind can become established in the experience of the infinite Self.
**The Poet (Kavi):** The consciousness dwelling in this particular body illuminates all the modifications arising in the mind. Because the Self is infinite and all-pervading, it illuminates all bodies and all mental modifications. Just as the sun is called the universal witness because it illuminates all objects on earth, so too is the Self called the Poet—the all-knowing—because without it no knowledge is possible. The designation of the Self as Poet is from the perspective of the world's limited, conditioned knowledge.
**The Ancient (Purana):** Because the Self exists equally in the beginning, middle, and end of creation, it is called the Ancient. This word indicates that this alone is the unchanging, all-pervading Self—the very foundation upon which the concept of time itself rests.
**The Ruler of All (Anushashitaram):** By this attribute, we must not understand the Self as some tyrant ruling the world with cruelty. The meaning here is simply that without the presence of consciousness, the instruments of body, mind, and intellect cannot function to receive objects, emotions, and thoughts; and without this, the manifold experiences of life cannot be woven into a unified thread of meaning.
Our life—which is an unbroken stream of experience—is not possible without the Self. As clay is necessary for the pot, gold for ornaments, and the ocean for waves, so too are clay, gold, and ocean the "rulers" of their respective modifications. In this sense alone should the Self be understood as the Ruler. To imagine God as some powerful policeman standing with two keys—one of gold and one of iron—to open the gates of heaven and hell is a crude conception of the Divine, lacking any sanctity to attract the wise and awakened.
**Subtler Than the Atom (Anu se Sukshmatara):** An atom is the finest particle in which the characteristics of a substance reside. The Self is subtler than even the atom. The subtler a thing is, the more pervasive it becomes. Water is subtler than ice, and vapor is subtler than water. The pervasiveness of objects is the measure by which we compare their subtlety. In the science of Brahman, the Self is called subtler than the subtle—the subtlest—meaning that the Self is all-pervading, yet nothing can pervade it.
**The Sustainer of All (Sarvasya Dhatarum):** The Self sustains and nourishes all. This means it is the foundation of all. In a cinema hall, the white screen—fixed and unchanging—can be called the sustainer of the film, for without it the stream of constantly changing images could not convey a complete story. However noble and great the message a skilled artist expresses through images, without the screen that image is impossible. The screen is the sustainer and nourisher of the picture's completeness and beauty. Similarly, if consciousness did not continuously illuminate our inner and outer worlds, we could not experience life as an unbroken whole.
**Inconceivable in Form (Achintya Rupam):** If we are instructed to meditate upon a reality characterized by attributes such as Poet and Ancient, we might immediately assume that the Self can be meditated upon through heart and intellect just like any other limited object or thought. To dispel this erroneous notion and to emphasize that the infinite Self cannot be known through the senses, mind, or intellect, the Lord declares that the Self is inconceivable in form—it cannot be thought of as an object. Although it is true that the Self cannot be known as an object separate from itself, when one goes beyond the coverings and ceases to identify with them, the Self is directly experienced in its own nature—not as an object separate from oneself.
**Radiant as the Sun (Aditya Varnam):** If the meaning of "inconceivable" is correct, then any intelligent practitioner cannot help but ask: How then can the Self be experienced? In the initial stages of practice, our identification with the body and other coverings is firm. Similarly, the means of knowledge are the senses, mind, and intellect—through which we attempt to understand the Self, just as we gain all other experiences. It is natural, therefore, that the disciple becomes confused by the guru's teaching to "contemplate the inconceivable" and "know the unknowable."
The Self is called inconceivable or unknowable only to indicate that through the means of knowledge available to us, the Self cannot be known as an object. A dreamer who slew his enemy with a dream-sword finds that sword unavailable upon waking—indeed, even his blood-stained hands become clean without water or soap.
As long as a person remains identified with the non-Self coverings, considering them as their true nature, and dwells in the externally created world of attachment and aversion, the Self remains inconceivable and unknowable. But the moment Self-knowledge dawns and one transcends these coverings, one becomes aware of one's pure, absolute nature.
Upon grasping this fundamental principle of Vedanta, the beauty of the incomparable sun analogy becomes clear. To see the sun, no other light is needed, for the sun itself is the very form of light—the source of illumination. Because it illuminates all things, its light is self-evident. Just as this is true in the physical world, so in the spiritual realm, consciousness itself—the Self—requires no other proof to be known. The dream-person can never know the waking person, for upon waking, the dreamer ceases to exist and becomes the waking person. To awaken from a dream means to know the waking person, and to know means to become that. Exactly so, at the moment of Self-realization, the individual self dissolves. One recognizes that in truth, throughout all time, one has always been the conscious Self—never the individual.
Such profound meaning is contained in the word "Radiant as the Sun."
**Beyond Darkness (Tamasah Parastaat):** No analogy can be complete. The sun analogy might create a contrary notion in the practitioner's mind. Those dwelling on earth experience the absence of the sun at night, and even during the day, the sun's light and heat are not uniform—they vary. A dull-witted practitioner might mistakenly think that the consciousness of the Self also sometimes becomes absent and that there is some variation in that consciousness.
To remove these two potential defects in the sun analogy, Lord Krishna declares the Self to be beyond darkness—beyond ignorance. By negating ignorance alone, the Self does not acquire the limitations of the sun. It eternally illuminates both knowledge and ignorance equally as consciousness. Therefore, it is beyond ignorance. This ignorance is also called maya.
The practitioner who meditates upon the Self—which is the Poet, the Ancient, the Ruler of all, the subtlest, the supreme foundation, inconceivable in form, self-luminous, and beyond all darkness—attains that supreme Being.