Shloka 8

अक्षरब्रह्मयोगः | Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga

The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman

Devanagari script

ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थोः विजितेन्द्रिय: । युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्टाश्मकाउ्चन:,जिसका अन्तःकरण ज्ञान-विज्ञानसे तृप्त है, जिसकी स्थिति विकाररहित है, जिसकी इन्द्रियाँ भलीभाँति जीती हुई हैं और जिसके लिये मिट्टी, पत्थर और सुवर्ण समान हैं, वह योगी युक्त अर्थात्‌ भगवत्प्राप्त है, ऐसे कहा जाता है

Transliteration

jñāna-vijñāna-tṛptātmā kūṭastho vijitendriyaḥ | yukta ity ucyate yogī sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ ||

Translation

One whose inner self is satisfied through true knowledge and realized insight, who remains unshaken and changeless, who has fully mastered the senses, and for whom a clod of earth, a stone, and gold are all the same—such a person is called a disciplined yogin, ‘yukta’, one who is truly united (with the Divine).

Word by Word

• {'jñāna': 'knowledge

• understanding of truth', 'vijñāna': 'realized knowledge

• direct discernment/insight', 'tṛpta-ātmā': 'one whose inner self is content/satiated', 'kūṭastha': 'steadfast

• abiding like an anvil (unaffected by change)', 'vijita-indriyaḥ': 'one who has conquered the senses', 'yuktaḥ': 'yoked

• disciplined', 'ucyate': 'is said/called', 'yogī': 'practitioner of yoga

• one established in spiritual discipline', 'sama': 'equal

• same-minded', 'loṣṭa': 'clod of earth', 'aśma': 'stone', 'kāñcana': 'gold'}

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• yogī
• loṣṭa (clod of earth)
• aśma (stone)
• kāñcana (gold)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse defines the ‘yukta’ yogin: one who is inwardly fulfilled by knowledge and realized insight, steady amid change, self-controlled, and free from value-obsession—treating earth, stone, and gold with equal regard. Ethical maturity is shown as non-attachment and even-mindedness.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Bhīṣma Parva’s Bhagavadgītā setting on the battlefield, the teaching describes the qualities of a spiritually integrated person. It is not a battlefield action but a characterization meant to guide Arjuna’s understanding of disciplined life and right conduct amid crisis.