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Chapter 8 · Attaining the Supreme · 28 verses

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Questions & crisisChapter 8 · Attaining the Supreme
7.308.2

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 8.1

Arjuna asks about spiritual realities and death

अर्जुन उवाच

किं तद्‌ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम ।

अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तमधिदैवं किमुच्यते ॥ १ ॥

arjuna uvāca

kiṁ tad brahma kim adhyātmaṁ

kiṁ karma puruṣottama

adhibhūtaṁ ca kiṁ proktam

adhidaivaṁ kim ucyate

Translation

Arjuna inquired: O my Lord, O Supreme Person, what is Brahman? What is the self? What are fruitive activities? What is this material manifestation? And what are the demigods? Please explain this to me.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

Questions to the Supreme Person

  1. 1Arjuna asks the Lord about Brahman, the self, fruitive activities, the material manifestation and the demigods.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that Arjuna asks Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Person, the supreme authority who can give definitive answers.
  3. 3Follow Arjuna’s example by seeking answers from Kṛṣṇa’s teachings.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 8, Attaining the Supreme: arjuna asks about spiritual realities and death.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Honest questions open the way to wisdom.

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Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: saṁśaya, viṣāda.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 8.1 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to questions & crisis?

Practice

Write down the real question behind your current dilemma.

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Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 8.2Arjuna asks about spiritual realities and deathBG 1.28Compassion entangled with attachmentBG 1.46The bow falls

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

Ask the study guide

Ask about BG 8.1 — get a simple answer linked to related ideas and verses.

Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.