The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran

notes ╯
Sanskrit word brahmacharya, a life of self-control and sense
restraint.
CHAPTER SEVEN
16 Artharthi has given translators some difficulties. “Those who
desire to achieve their purpose” captures the basic meaning of
the word. Artha is goal or purpose; the second word of the compound,
arthi, means “one who has a goal.” So artharthi probably
refers to those who take to the spiritual life with a particular
purpose in view. Artha also means wealth or worldly goods, but
to translate this phrase as “those who desire wealth” would go
against the entire tenor of the Gita.
23 “The gods” here are the devas, the lower, celestial deities such as
Indra.
30 These obscure terms ( adhibhuta, adhidaiva, and adhiyajna ) are
taken up in the next chapter.
CHAPTER EIGHT
6 Whatever is the content of the mind at the moment of death
determines the direction of the soul’s rebirth. The implication is
that whatever has been the bedrock of consciousness during life
will be remembered at the time of death and lead the soul on to
fulfill that desire in the next life.
9–10 The eyebrow center is discussed in the note to 5:27–28.
CHAPTER NINE
5 Yoga here means “mysterious power.” This is yet another meaning
attached to the word yoga, for those who practiced yoga were
sometimes thought of as concealing within themselves extraordinary
powers developed through their disciplines. The folklore
271 ╯