We are all living with the delusion that death is imperative; that every person will die. But, contrary to this belief, Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that we can attain immortality:
Having crossed over these three attributes arising from the body, the dweller in the body is completely freed from birth, death, old age and sorrow and attains immortality.Chapter 14:20
A fact that is revealed in the Bible as well:
That whatsoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life.John 3:15
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth in Me hath everlasting life.John 6:47
Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keeps my saying, he shall never see death.John 8:51
These scriptures have been read over and over again by mankind for thousands of years, yet no one could understand the real sense of the words contained in them. We could never imagine that terms such as “have eternal life” or “never die” or “completely free from sorrow, old age and death” literally mean living forever.
Though all the holy books reveal the path for attaining immortality, the Bhagavad Gita conveys this message in simple words. Besides the knowledge of the Self, the Gita contains the science of Yog which not only brings self-realisation to all of us, it can also free us from sorrow, diseases, old age and death and hence make us immortal. Unfortunately, we could not understand this message given in the Gita and thus could not attain freedom from old age and death.
At the very beginning of His teachings to Arjun, Lord Krishna revealed that all bodies are embodied by the all-pervading indestructible, which means that all bodies are of God or all beings are God. However, we are deluded by the ego and look at ourselves as ‘I’ or man/woman and fail to realise we are God.
Lord Krishna also revealed that all humans are eternal living beings who neither die nor ever cease to exist but keep changing their bodies birth after birth. The cycle of constant death and birth or changing of the bodies can come to an end provided we attain the self-realisation that we are God, eternal living beings, not ‘I’ or mortal man/ woman. In Verse 7:4, Lord Krishna said that the embodied being or God has an eight-fold nature comprising earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and the ego. In Verses 2:62-63, He explained that when we contemplate the object while performing actions, it gives rise to an attachment to the object. From attachment arises desire and from desire arises anger. From anger arises delusion, from delusion comes confusion of memory, from confusion of memory results the loss of intellect and with the loss of intellect we perish.
The being who performs actions without attachment to the objects, called Buddhi Yog, is freed from desire, anger and delusion. He will not lose his intellect and he will become a sthitpragya or person of steady intellect and a non perishable being. He will not change bodies but dwell in the same body in eternal peace and happiness.
Lord Krishna then imparted the knowledge of Karma Yog in the Bhagavad Gita. He revealed in Verse 3:27, that actions from our bodies are performed by the attributes of nature, not by beings. But the being who is deluded by the ego, thinks, “I am the doer”. This binds the being to the actions and attaches him to the attributes of nature, due to which he takes constant births in different bodies. Karma Yog, which frees the being from the bonds of actions and attributes of nature, consists of mentally renouncing the actions or the sense of doership to God by thinking that God/Nature is performing the actions. This mental renunciation or offering of all action to God is the highest wisdom or science by which we can cross over the attributes of nature, become free from sorrow, old age and death and live forever.
When the seer perceives no doer other than the attributes and knows beyond the attributes, he attains My Bhava.Chapter 14:19
Having crossed over these three attributes arising from the body, the dweller in the body is completely freed from birth, death, old age and sorrow and attains immortality.Chapter 14:20
The all-pervading Brahm or God is a Gyan or Bhava of sameness towards all, that all is Vasudev and all beings are God. Though all beings are fragments of Brahm or Gyan, they do not have self-realisation. They do not have the Gyan that they are God. Verses 4:38 and 5:6 of the Gita reveal that a person who is established in Yog quickly attains Brahm or finds Gyan in the Self.
A person does not have to bring any change in his lifestyle and actions in order to practise Yog. He has to remain engaged in all the usual actions but mentally renounce the actions and their fruits to God. When beings will perform their actions by Yog and attain Gyan, the world will enter a new age. In the new age all beings will be free from sorrow, old age and death and will live in complete harmony and oneness, having realised that all beings are God.
Following the path of Yog, by way of renouncing the fruits and actions to God, unites the being to God. Verse 2:66 says that there is neither intellect nor Bhavna for the ununited and one without Bhavna can neither have peace nor happiness. Verse 5:12 highlights that he who is united, having abandoned the fruits of actions, attains eternal peace. However, the ununited, impelled by desire and attached to fruits, is bound. Referring to a Karma Yogi, Verses 5:8-9 say that he who is united and knows the truth thinks, ‘I do nothing at all’ and in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting, walking, speaking, breathing and performing other actions believes that only the senses are moving among the objects. Verses 8:6-8 say that whatever Bhavas or perceptions one remembers while leaving the body, one goes to those alone. It further says that those whose minds are united to Brahm by the practise of Yog, go to the Supreme Resplendent Being.
The science of Yog is the highest wisdom that has come from God. A person who performs his actions by mentally renouncing the actions and their fruits to God becomes united to God by Yog. If he is thus united at the time of leaving the body he will reach the all-pervading Brahm or Gyan and be liberated from birth. If he attains perfection in Yog while living he will attain the Brahm or Gyan. He will then be free from sorrow, old age and death and attain immortality, as revealed in Verses 14:19- 20
The writer is the author of the book, You Are God – the Bhagavad Gita as never before. For more information, visit