8.16 Arjuna, from this tiny saha-world up to the realms of Great Bramās, all undergo repeated cosmic-cycles of rebirth. Only those who have awakened to my own Noble Self-realization are free from the karmic-spin.
Even reaching the Great Brahmic-realms does not guarantee liberation from eventual rebirth. What one experiences here is the realm of the gods, one of the six-realms of impermanence. This is why reaching such evanescent realms in meditation and, becoming spellbound by their apparent luminosity, is in actuality obtaining fool’s gold—it is only a fleeting mirage. Whereas the Law of Eternal Recurrence no longer applies to those who have found refuge and liberation in the Unborn—the Uncreated, Uncomposed, and Undying. Yea, this is the Eternal-Realm of deathlessness ITself. IT is not a created-region and cannot therefore be “experienced” as such, but Self-Realized.
8.17 Those who are well-attuned with the nature of cosmic-cycles are well aware that the gods of day (yang) and the gods of night (yin) are limited to a thousand yugas.
8.18 As the Yang-day dawns, all of creation arises out of apparent nothingness into a temporary manifested state. At the arrival of the Yin-night, all merge into the realms of formlessness once again.
8.19 Thus, the multitudes of [beingness] are created and destroyed again and again down into the cosmic vortex of the days and nights of re-becoming.
The word “yuga” designates an age; the above reference (hyperlink) is a traditional rendering. According to Carl Sagan, “its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.6 billion years ago, longer than the age of the earth or the sun and about half the time of the big bang.” (Wiki) The “days” and “nights” referenced here pertain to a time of manifested-creation, to that of creation being dissolved. Of course, these Cosmic-Cycles repeat themselves indefinitely and thus represents the folly of those who follow and bind-themselves to such mechanisms of phenomenal existence.
8.20 Verily, beyond these shallow realms of form and formlessness, there is another Absolute and unmanifested Reality—untouched by the cosmic-equation of creation and dissolution.
8.21 Those who Self-Realize the Supreme stateless-state of deathlessness recognize that I AM Unborn and Unchanging. Having recourse to my Deathless-Spirit assures transcendence from such states of regenesis.
8.22 With singlehearted and one-pointed devotion the devotee of the Unborn will abide in the abode of deathlessness.
8.23-8.28
These verses speak of the elements—fire, light, day, etc.—referring to the guidance of specific divinities on the two paths out of this world. These are the methods of liberation and departure from life found in the Chndogya Upanishad 4.5, Bhadrayaka Upanishad 5.10, and Muaka Upanishad 2.11. However, Krishna ultimately expresses that offering one’s heart transcends these processes, positive or negative. In bhakti, all the technicalities of these paths are unnecessary and even a higher liberation can be achieved in the practice of loving devotion. In this verse and the following, Krishna is acknowledging these various elements for passing on that correspond to the internal dimensions of the self in its passage beyond this life.
Schweig, Graham M. (2010-09-28). Bhagavad Gita: The Beloved Lord’s Secret Love Song (Kindle Locations 13907-13913). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
For the Unborn Mind adept and yogin, entering into the process of the Liberative Dharmakayic-Technique as expressed in the previous blog-post fulfills Dharmakaya Yoga and thus shall reach the deathless shores of the Dharmakaya.