Devanagari
प्रयाणकाले मनसाचलेन
भक्त्या युक्तो योगबलेन चैव ।
भ्रुवोर्मध्ये प्राणमावेश्य सम्य-
क्स तं परं पुरुषमुपैति दिव्यम् ॥ १० ॥
Verse text
prayāṇa-kāle manasācalena
bhaktyā yukto yoga-balena caiva
bhruvor madhye prāṇam āveśya samyak
sa taṁ paraṁ puruṣam upaiti divyam
Synonyms
prayāṇa-kāle
—
at the time of death
;
manasā
—
by the mind
;
acalena
—
without its being deviated
;
bhaktyā
—
in full devotion
;
yuktaḥ
—
engaged
;
yoga-balena
—
by the power of mystic yoga
;
ca
—
also
;
eva
—
certainly
;
bhruvoḥ
—
the two eyebrows
;
madhye
—
between
;
prāṇam
—
the life air
;
āveśya
—
establishing
;
samyak
—
completely
;
saḥ
—
he
;
tam
—
that
;
param
—
transcendental
;
puruṣam
—
Personality of Godhead
;
upaiti
—
achieves
;
divyam
—
in the spiritual kingdom.
Translation
One who, at the time of death, fixes his life air between the eyebrows and, by the strength of yoga, with an undeviating mind, engages himself in remembering the Supreme Lord in full devotion, will certainly attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
9-10. At the time of death, a person endowed with devotion and with unwavering mind, who concentrates between the brows through the strength of yoga practice, and who remembers He who is omniscient, beginningless, the teacher, smaller than the smallest, the container of everything, the inconceivable, an independent form like the sun, who is above prakṛti—that person attains the transcendental supreme person.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
9-10. At the time of death, one who remembers with devotion the person who is omniscient, without beginning, the teacher, smaller than the smallest, the container of everything, the inconceivable, an independent form like the sun, who is above prakṛti, with unwavering mind concentrating between the brows through strength of yoga practice, attains that transcendental supreme person.
Purport
In this verse it is clearly stated that at the time of death the mind must be fixed in devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For those practiced in yoga, it is recommended that they raise the life force between the eyebrows (to the ājṣā-cakra ). The practice of ṣaṭ-cakra-yoga, involving meditation on the six cakras, is suggested here. A pure devotee does not practice such yoga, but because he is always engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, at death he can remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead by His grace. This is explained in verse 14.
The particular use of the word yoga-balena is significant in this verse because without practice of yoga – whether ṣaṭ-cakra-yoga or bhakti-yoga – one cannot come to this transcendental state of being at the time of death. One cannot suddenly remember the Supreme Lord at death; one must have practiced some yoga system, especially the system of bhakti-yoga. Since one’s mind at death is very disturbed, one should practice transcendence through yoga during one’s life.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Without practice of yoga it is difficult to withdraw the mind from sense objects. Without withdrawing the mind from sense objects, it is difficult to think constantly of the Lord. Therefore one should execute bhakti along with some type of yoga practice. The Lord here speaks of such bhakti mixed with aṣṭāṅga-yoga (yoga-miśra-bhakti) in five verses.
The Lord is omniscient (kavi). But though one may be omniscient, like Sanaka and others, one may not be eternal. Therefore, the Lord is described as purāṇa, without beginning. Though He is both omniscient and without beginning, this does not indicate that He becomes the instructor of bhakti as Paramātmā. Therefore He is called anuśāsitāram, the teacher, who by His mercy gives instructions about devotion to Himself when He appears as Kṛṣṇa or Rāma. Though He is merciful, He is still a difficult object to know factually: compared to the smallest He is even smaller. Then, is He like the jīva, the size of an atom? No, He is also of the greatest size, spreading everywhere, since everything is contained within Him (sarvasya dhātāram). Thus He is said to be inconceivable in form (acintya-rūpam). Though He appears of medium size, as a human being, His manifestation is independent of all others. Thus He has a form (varṇa) which is like that of the sun (āditya), revealing both Himself and all others. Thus, though He is the possessor of māyā-śakti (prakṛti), His form is transcendental to prakṛti or māyā (tamasaḥ parastāt).
At the time of death (prayāṇa-kāle), with unwavering mind, engaged in bhakti with constant remembrance of Me as described above, the yogī attains Me. How does he attain unwavering mind? He attains it through the strength of his practice of yoga (yoga-balena). The yoga process is then described. Fixing his prāṇa in the ājṣā-cakra (bhruvor madhye), he attains Me. [Note: From verse 13 it seems that attaining the Lord means attaining His abode, attaining a distant relationship with the Lord.]
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Unwavering concentration of the mind mentioned in the previous verse is very difficult to achieve, unless one practices yoga. Yoga miśra bhakti is therefore described in five verses.
One should remember He who is omniscient (kavim); who gives beneficial teachings as in the case of Rāma (anuśāsitāram); who has the power to enter within the jīva and is thus smaller than the jīva (aṇor aṇīyāmsam). The śruti also says antaḥ praviṣṭaḥ śāstā janānām: He has entered within and is the teacher of men. (Taittirīya Āraṇyaka 3.11) And though He is very small, He is spread everywhere: he holds the whole universe within Himself (sarvasya dhātāram). But how is that possible? His very form is inconceivable (acintya rūpam). It is said:
ekam eva brahma puruṣa-vidhatvena madhyama-parimāṇam aṇor aṇīyāṁsam
This one brahman is of medium size in the form of a man, and also smaller than the smallest.
paramāṇu-parimāṇaṁ sarvasya dhātāram
He is the size of the smallest atom and the container of the universe.
paraṁ mahā-parimāṇaṁ
He is great in size.
There is no opportunity to use logic here.
The Lord is self-revealing. Like the sun (aditya varṇam), He reveals Himself and others. He is not touched by māyā (tamasaḥ parastāt). He is situated above māyā. The maker of māyā is beyond māyā. He who remembers such a person at every moment attains that supreme person. The lines of this verse connect with last line of the next verse.
He who remembers that person with undeviating mind at the time of death, with prema for paramātmā (bhaktyā), through the accumulation of impressions arising from the experience of samādhi (yoga balena), carefully establishing the prāṇa in the ājṣā cakra (here the yoga process is described), attains that person.
Surrender Unto Me
Ultimately the point we will hear is 'to remember Krsna', not the 'fixing the mind on the eyebrows, etc, etc,.'