Gita Bhashya -Sankara 329

Shri Sankara's Gita Bhashya

(Sri Sankaracharya's Commentary on the Gita)

CHAPTER -8

Commencing with the words, "'He who verily among mortals, meditates on the syllabic Om till death, Venerable Sir, what region does he thereby win?' To him he said,' O Satyakāma, this the Brahman, the Higher and the Lower, is the syllable Om ' ", it is further stated, "He who meditates on the Supreme Purusa by thiv very syllable Om of three mātras (he is borne up... to the region of Brahman)". And, again commencing with the words, "Other than dharma (virtue), other than adharma (vice)", it is stated, "What all the Vedas: declare, and what all austerities speak of, and seeking which people lead the life of brahmacarya-that goal I shall tell you in brief. It is Om". In such passages as the above, the syllable Om is aeclared to be the significant appellation for, or an image­ like symbol of, Brahman,-by reason of its being the means for persons or dull and mediocre intellects to the understanding the Supreme Brahman-and its meditation is said to result, in due course, in liberation (tnukti). That very same meditation yielding the fruit of mukt' in due course of time, of the syllable Om, which- in the manner specified above-constitutes the means to the comprehension of the Supreme Brahman referred to in the passages, "The Sage, the Ancient" and "What the knowers of the Veda speak of as the Imperishable ", has to be taugh) here also, together with steadfastness of Yoga (yoga-dhāranat as well as other matters pertaining to and closely connected with the mam subject. With this aim, the text proceeds as follows: