Chapter 8, Verse 15
Akshara Brahma Yoga — Sanskrit shloka, transliteration, word meanings, English translation, and commentary.
Original Sanskrit verse
Transliteration
Word meanings
mām—me; upetya—having attained; punaḥ—again; janma—birth; duḥkha-ālayam—place full of miseries; aśhāśhvatam—temporary; na—never; āpnuvanti—attain; mahā-ātmānaḥ—the great souls; sansiddhim—perfection; paramām—highest; gatāḥ—having achieved
English translation
Having attained Me, these great souls do not take birth again here—a place of pain and impermanence—but have reached the highest perfection of liberation.
— Swami Sivananda
Listen to Shloka 8.15
Commentary
Birth is the home of pain or seat of sorrow arising from the body. Study the Garbhopanishad. There the nature of pain; i.e.; how the child is confined in the womb; and how it is pressed during its passage along the vaginal canal and the neck of the womb or uterus; is described. Further it is much affected by the PrasutiVayu (the vital air which is responsible for the delivery of the child). Mahatmas (great souls) are free from Rajas and Tamas. Having attained Me This denotes KramaMukti or gradual liberation. The devotees who pass along the Devayana through the force of their Upasana; attain to Brahmaloka (the world of Brahma the Creator) or Satyaloka (the world of truth; the highest of the seven worlds) and there enjoy all the divine wealth and glory of the Lord and then attain to Kaivalya Moksha (final liberation) through the knowledge of Brahman; along with Brahma during the cosmic dissolution. Mahatmas or great souls who have attained Moksha do not come again to birth. Those who have not attained Me; take birth again in this world.
Commentary by Swami Sivananda
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