Devanagari
कविं पुराणमनुशासितार-
मणोरणीयांसमनुस्मरेद्य: ।
सर्वस्य धातारमचिन्त्यरूप-
मादित्यवर्णं तमस: परस्तात् ॥ ९ ॥
Verse text
kaviṁ purāṇam anuśāsitāram
aṇor aṇīyāṁsam anusmared yaḥ
sarvasya dhātāram acintya-rūpam
āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt
Synonyms
kavim
—
the one who knows everything
;
purāṇam
—
the oldest
;
anuśāsitāram
—
the controller
;
aṇoḥ
—
than the atom
;
aṇīyāṁsam
—
smaller
;
anusmaret
—
always thinks of
;
yaḥ
—
one who
;
sarvasya
—
of everything
;
dhātāram
—
the maintainer
;
acintya
—
inconceivable
;
rūpam
—
whose form
;
āditya-varṇam
—
luminous like the sun
;
tamasaḥ
—
to darkness
;
parastāt
—
transcendental.
Translation
One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun, and He is transcendental, beyond this material nature.
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
The process of thinking of the Supreme is mentioned in this verse. The foremost point is that He is not impersonal or void. One cannot meditate on something impersonal or void. That is very difficult. The process of thinking of Kṛṣṇa, however, is very easy and is factually stated herein. First of all, the Lord is puruṣa, a person – we think of the person Rāma and the person Kṛṣṇa. And whether one thinks of Rāma or of Kṛṣṇa, what He is like is described in this verse of Bhagavad-gītā. The Lord is kavi; that is, He knows past, present and future and therefore knows everything. He is the oldest personality because He is the origin of everything; everything is born out of Him. He is also the supreme controller of the universe, and He is the maintainer and instructor of humanity. He is smaller than the smallest. The living entity is one ten-thousandth part of the tip of a hair, but the Lord is so inconceivably small that He enters into the heart of this particle. Therefore He is called smaller than the smallest. As the Supreme, He can enter into the atom and into the heart of the smallest and control him as the Supersoul. Although so small, He is still all-pervading and is maintaining everything. By Him all these planetary systems are sustained. We often wonder how these big planets are floating in the air. It is stated here that the Supreme Lord, by His inconceivable energy, is sustaining all these big planets and systems of galaxies. The word acintya (“inconceivable”) is very significant in this connection. God’s energy is beyond our conception, beyond our thinking jurisdiction, and is therefore called inconceivable ( acintya ). Who can argue this point? He pervades this material world and yet is beyond it. We cannot comprehend even this material world, which is insignificant compared to the spiritual world – so how can we comprehend what is beyond? Acintya means that which is beyond this material world, that which our argument, logic and philosophical speculation cannot touch, that which is inconceivable. Therefore intelligent persons, avoiding useless argument and speculation, should accept what is stated in scriptures like the Vedas, Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and follow the principles they set down. This will lead one to understanding.
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
Krsna has 'acintya‑rupam', He has an inconceivable form ‑ always a person.
Now, in the remaining verses of this Section, Krsna is going to explain more about remembering Him. But now He is going to explain 'Yoga misra bhakti'.
This is actually what was referred to at the end of Chapter Seven, 'about those who want to become liberated from birth and death.' That was a hint of yoga misra bhakti, because that was a sakama devotee. Here the explanation of yoga misra bhakti is being given:
[ 2 . Yogamisra bhakti: If one practices celibacy, utters 'omkara', detaches himself from his senses, and thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead when quitting the body, he reaches the spiritual planets. (10‑13) ]