BG 8.9
Bhagavad Gītā · Akarṣara Brahma Yogaकविं पुराणमनुशासितार- मणोरणीयंसमनुस्मरेद्यः | सर्वस्य धातारमचिन्त्यरूप- मादित्यवर्णं तमसः परस्तात् ||८-९||
kaviṃ purāṇamanuśāsitāraṃ aṇoraṇīyaṃsamanusmaredyaḥ . sarvasya dhātāramacintyarūpaṃ ādityavarṇaṃ tamasaḥ parastāt ||8-9||
Provider snapshots5
कविं पुराणमनुशासितार- मणोरणीयंसमनुस्मरेद्यः | सर्वस्य धातारमचिन्त्यरूप- मादित्यवर्णं तमसः परस्तात् ||८-९||
unnamed meter · 11+11+11+11 syllables
scansion (laghu/guru)
Facts come from Vidyut (deterministic), never the model. Gaps are shown, not guessed.
Whosoever meditates on the Omniscient, the Ancient, the Ruler (of the whole world), minuter than an atom, the supporter of all, of inconceivable form, effulgent like the sun and beyond the darkness of ignorance.
Compare versions (10 translators)
A cited synthesis that reconciles these translations and speaks to your situation. Coming soon. Sign in to be first.
English commentary2
8.9 कविम् Omniscient? पुराणम् Ancient? अनुशासितारम् the Ruler (of the whole world)? अणोः than atom? अणीयांसम् minuter? अनुस्मरेत् remembers? यः who? सर्वस्य of all? धातारम् supporter? अचिन्त्यरूपम् one whose form is inconceivable? आदित्यवर्णम् effulgent like the sun? तमसः from the darkness (of ignorance)? परस्तात् beyond.Commentary Kavim The sage? seer or poet? the omniscient.The Lord dispenses the fruits of actions of the Jivas (individual souls). He is the Ruler of the world. It is very difficult to conceive the form of the Lord. He is selfluminous and He illumies everything like the sun.
— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗
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.
— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗