Verse 9

In plain words

And what is that Person like, the one he reaches? That is what is said next —

'The seer' — the one whose vision reaches past every limit, who knows everything; 'the ancient one,' existing since before time itself; 'the ruler' who governs this entire world; 'subtler than the subtlest atom' — finer than anything fine. Whoever meditates on Him — the one who ordains, who hands out the fruit of every action, distributing it to each being exactly as it's due, in all its endless variety; 'of unthinkable form' — a form that is real, definite, and yet no one can grasp it in thought; 'sun-colored' — glowing with the very radiance of eternal awareness, like the sun itself; 'beyond all darkness' — beyond the darkness that is nothing but ignorance, beyond delusion's dark. Whoever keeps his mind fixed there, meditating on Him alone, reaches Him.

Close to the Sanskrit

And distinguished by what — the Person whom he reaches: thus it is said —

'Kavi': the seer, the one whose vision has gone beyond, the omniscient one; 'purāṇa': ancient, primeval; 'anuśāsitāram': the ruler, the governor, of the whole world; 'more minute than even the subtle atom': finer, subtler; whoever, any person, meditates, contemplates — upon Him who is the ordainer, the distributor, of the entirety of the fruits of all action, who apportions them variously to living beings; 'of unthinkable form': his form, though it definitely exists, cannot be conceived by anyone — hence 'of unthinkable form'; Him; 'sun-colored': having a luster like that of the sun, the radiance of eternal consciousness whose luster it is; Him; 'beyond darkness': beyond the darkness characterized by ignorance, the darkness of delusion — Him, the one beyond that, meditating upon — 'he attains': this connects with the preceding word.

In plain words

“Listen to how God is remembered in this form. They describe Him as Kavi, as Purāṇa, as Anuśāsita, as one whose svarūpa is subtler than all that is subtle, as Sarvādhāra, as Acintya-rūpa, as Āditya-varṇa, and as one beyond tamas,” He said. Then Arjuna said, “Svāmī! Are there not poets even among the most ordinary people? Is a description as ordinary as ‘poet’ fitting for the Paramātma? Or does the description ‘Kavi’ belong to some special place? Explain it a little.”

Kṛṣṇa explained, “Arjuna! Kavi does not mean merely one who writes poems and verses! Kavi means ‘omniscience’. So it is God alone who sees all three times; He alone is the all-knowing one. There is no place the Kavi does not see. That is why the derivation runs, ‘kaviḥ sarvajñaḥ krāntadarśī’. It is God who kindles radiance in every heart. Why say more? The Kavi alone is the support of all creation. So Kavi means ‘the all-knowing one’, and nothing else. God is the imperishable Kavi. His poetry is an immortal poem.” “Svāmī! Second, You said ‘Purāṇa’. What is that? Tell me its inner meaning,” said Arjuna. “Arjuna! However old He is, He keeps growing ever newer! Such a one is God. He alone is the eternal one, new at every moment. That is why it is said, ‘purā navamiti purāṇaṃ’,” He said.

“Then what does ‘Anuśāsita’ mean?” asked Arjuna. “He is ‘sarvatantra-svatantra’. He is the one who rules in everyone. Even the five elements must be bound by His command. Even they cannot go beyond the limits of the decrees He has laid down. Whatever rule is made in the world is of an outward kind; but the rule of the Paramātma is not like that. He rules as the Antaryāmi; that is, He is the one who rules by watching over the Manas. So know Him as ‘sarvatantra-svatantra’,” said the Lord.

“Svāmī! The fourth, ‘Sūkṣma-rūpa’: what is He like? Please tell me what sūkṣma means,” said Arjuna.

“Pārtha! Perhaps you thought sūkṣma means someone with a small body! No, no. It means ‘nirguṇa’. It cannot be known with the senses. As the guṇas of an object decrease, the object becomes subtler. How so? Take the five elements (the objects of the world): sound, touch, form, taste and smell are their respective guṇas. Earth is the first, water the second, fire the third, air the fourth, ākāśa the fifth, isn't it? Each is lighter than the one before and grows subtler; this is evident to direct perception.”

In plain words

“Because He is beyond these five subtle things, and because there are no guṇas at all in Him, God's svarūpa is subtler than the subtlest. He pervades more than all. Guṇas are heavy. God is guṇātīta; so, without any weight, His form is subtler than the subtlest,” Kṛṣṇa explained.

“Now the fifth, ‘Sarvādhāra’. In the world there are two things: the support, and the supported. What our eyes see, what our ears hear – why name one thing? – the whole of creation is the supported. This whole creation is filled with the five elements spoken of above: earth, water, fire, air and ākāśa. These are all things supported. How so? All of them stand by the support of God. That God is the support of all of them. For Him there is no other support. So it is settled that He alone is Sarvādhāra.”

“Listen, I shall explain the sixth. ‘Acintya-rūpa’ means ‘one who cannot be thought of’. What is it that thinks? The Manas, is it not? So it means: the one who cannot be thought of with the Manas. You may doubt this, and ask how. Brother-in-law! Listen. The Manas is momentary. Not only that; it is inert. The Paramātma, on the other hand, is the eternal reality, and Caitanya as well. Inquire into them, and they are wholly opposed to each other. The momentary and the eternal have no relation to each other: one is that which is not, the other is that which abides. Then the inert and Caitanya: these too are the same; they have no agreement with each other. How can such a Manas, inert and momentary, think of the Paramātma, who is eternal and Caitanya? You may also ask, ‘If so, what becomes of the sādhaka?’ It is not that there is no way for him, brother-in-law! It is enough to think of the Paramātma as ‘Acintya-rūpa’. Surely a way will come to him. If one thinks in the way one should think, the fruit will surely come in the way it should come. So the sādhaka must first learn the method of thinking too.” Then Arjuna said, “Very well, Svāmī! Let us move ahead; the time is drawing near. We are not standing on this battlefield without any responsibility, are we? The war is bearing down upon us. Whatever command You swiftly give, I am ready to carry it out. So tell me about the remaining seventh.”

“Arjuna! ‘Āditya-varṇaṃ’. It means that God is ‘self-luminous’, like the sun. Not only that; the light of the sun, too, is the Paramātma. If the sun is what makes the world shine, God is the one who makes even the sun shine; that is why He came to be called ‘Āditya’.”

“Now listen; I shall explain the eighth too. ‘Tamas-para’. Tamas means ‘Ajñāna’; para means ‘witness’. So it means the witness of Ajñāna. Brother-in-law! Since Māyā and Ajñāna are one and the same, one may also think of the Paramātma as the one beyond such Māyā. Brother-in-law! Close your eyes once and look, and you will know what is there. When the eyes are closed, what is there? All is one darkness. Yes or no? How did you know that darkness? If you did not know it, how can you call it darkness? There, the darkness is one thing and the seeing is another; there are two, are there not? If you yourself were the darkness, how could you see? Since you are seeing, you are not the darkness. You are the witness who saw the darkness. Brother-in-law! Consider one more thing. At times a man goes on blaming himself: ‘I am an ajñāni; I know nothing.’ If he really were an ajñāni, where did the Jñāna that knows ‘I am an ajñāni’ come from? How did it come? Ajñāna is the seen, Jñāna is the seer; you are only the witness who sees Ajñāna, and you are not Ajñāna. In just this way, whoever contemplates the eight descriptions spoken of above – that is right contemplation of the svarūpa, brother-in-law!” Arjuna asked, “Kṛṣṇa! Is it enough merely to contemplate in this way, or must something more be added to these?”