Chapter 8: Akshara Brahma Yoga, verse 3
श्री भगवानुवाच śhrī bhagavān uvācha
अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते।
भूतभावोद्भवकरो विसर्गः कर्मसंज्ञितः ॥
Say itakṣharaṁ brahma paramaṁ svabhāvo ’dhyātmam uchyate
bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo visargaḥ karma-sanjñitaḥ
Translation
The Blessed Lord said, "Brahman is the Imperishable, the Supreme; its essential nature is called Self-knowledge; the offering (to the gods) that causes the existence and manifestation of beings and sustains them is called action."
Swami Sivananda
The Blessed Lord said, "The Immutable is the supreme Brahman; selfhood is said to be the entity present in the individual plane. By action is meant the offerings that bring about the origin of existence of things."
Swami Gambirananda
Follows the commentary of Shankara (Advaita).
The Blessed Lord said, "The Immutable is the supreme Brahman; selfhood is said to be the entity present in the individual plane. By action is meant the offerings that bring about the origin of existence of things."
Swami Adidevananda
Follows the commentary of Ramanuja (Vishishtadvaita).
The Bhagavat said, "The immutable Absolute is the Brahman. Its intrinsic nature is called the Lord of the Self. The emitting activity that causes the birth of both the animate and inanimate is named 'action'."
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan
Follows the commentary of Abhinavagupta (Kashmir Shaivism).
The Lord Shri Krishna replied: The Supreme Spirit is the Highest Imperishable Self, and Its nature is spiritual consciousness. The worlds have been created and are sustained by an emanation from the Spirit, which is called the Law.
Shri Purohit Swami
श्रीभगवान् बोले -- परम अक्षर ब्रह्म है और जीवका अपना जो होनापन है, उसको अध्यात्म कहते हैं। प्राणियों का उद्भव (सत्ता को प्रकट) करनेवाला जो त्याग है उसको कर्म कहा जाता है।
Swami Ramsukhdas
श्रीभगवान् ने कहा -- परम अक्षर (अविनाशी) तत्त्व ब्रह्म है; स्वभाव (अपना स्वरूप) अध्यात्म कहा जाता है; भूतों के भावों को उत्पन्न करने वाला विसर्ग (यज्ञ, प्रेरक बल) कर्म नाम से जाना जाता है।
Swami Tejomayananda
Classical commentariesFor deeper study. Most are in the original Sanskrit.
Advaita
Non-dual: the self and the absolute are one.
Vishishtadvaita
Qualified non-dual: souls are real parts of the divine.
Dvaita
Dual: the soul and God are eternally distinct.
Shuddhadvaita
Pure non-dual, centred on grace and devotion.
Kashmir Shaivism
The Gita read through Trika Shaiva philosophy.
Modern teachers
20th-century teachers writing for today's readers.