Summary:

Accumulation of good samskaras:

Samskaras mean the imprints of actions, associations and experiences that remain indelibly engraved on our mind and mould our behavior, our personality and our world-view.

Human life is full of various samskaras.Innumerable actions are being continually done by us. In our  life there are various dreams, sentiments and perceptions like love and hate, honor and insult, joy and sorrow. All these make their impact on the mind and shape a man’s personality and behavior. Samskaras are good as well as bad, and both of them influence human life. Therefore, according to Vinobaji, life means an aggregate of accumulated samskaras.

Many are the things done and many the things known. In the end, most of them get erased leaving behind only a few samskaras.The entire life of a man is an arithmetical exercise wherein addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of numerous samskaras go on continuously and finally one strong samskara remains. That is the final answer of the equation of life. The thought that arises at the last moment in this life is the essence of the whole of one’s life; it signifies what has been gained in this life.Our life should be oriented in such a way that, at the last moment we will have the samskara we want. Day and night, our whole attention should be turned in that direction.

Living with the awareness of death:

The Eighth Chapter puts forward a thesis that the thought uppermost in mind at the time of death prevails over others in the next birth. When we start a journey, we carry provisions with us for our sustenance. The thought uppermost in mind at the time of death, which is the essence of what has been earned in this life, is the provision with which we start our journey in the next birth. End of this life is the beginning of the next one. Hence one must always be aware of the inevitability of death, while conducting oneself in this life.

Further,constant awareness of death is the means for avoiding sin. If death is staring in the face, who can muster up courage to commit sin?

But man always evades the thought of death. Man detests even the very mention of the word ‘death’. If somebody utters this word while taking meals, he is immediately admonished. Nevertheless, we are continually moving towards death.

We are constantly training ourselves in bad ways; we are constantly teaching our sense organs to behave in a perverse and wayward fashion. Mind must be trained in a different way. It should be led to what is good and should be encouraged to get absorbed in it. The moment we realize that we have erred, we should start taking corrective steps. Once we realize that we have made a mistake, should we go on repeating it? The moment you come to realize your error is the moment of your rebirth. It should mark a new beginning in your life. Look at it as the dawn of your new life. You are now truly awake. Now you should critically examine your life day and night. You should become alert lest you should slip again; lest you should go back to practicing bad ways.

Always strive not to see anything that could leave a bad samskara, never give an ear to abuse and revilement and keep the speech free from foulness. Only when you are so conscious and alert, you will be rewarded at the last moment. You shall become the master of life and death.

To inculcate good and pure samskaras, one must always ruminate over noble thoughts. Let the hands be busy in doing pure and good deeds. Remembrance of God within and performance of swadharma outward, hands engaged in service and vikarma( karma with focus) in the mind—all this should continue day in and day out, without any lapse.

In short, death will be a matter of joy when there is continuous performance of swadharma outside while inwardly the mind is being purified through devotion etc., when the streams of vikarama( karma with focus) and karma flow within and without.

The Lord has ordered that ,in order to make your life  and end of life happy,you must keep fighting evil all the time.

When a stone breaks at the twentieth blow, it does not mean that the previous nineteen blows had been in vain. In fact, they were preparing ground for the success of the twentieth blow.

To feel dejected means to lose faith in God. God is always there to support and protect you. Have faith in Him. To develop self-confidence in the child, the mother lets him wander here and there, but she keeps watch. She does not let him fall. If he starts tottering, she is there to lift him up in her arms. God too is watching you. He holds in His hands the string of your life’s kite. Sometimes He pulls it taut while sometimes He lets it loose; but be assured that He Himself is holding the string in His hands.

Uttarayan and Dakshinayan:

This has been said at the end of this Chapter using a metaphor. Understand this metaphor properly. If at the time of one’s death fire is burning, the sun is shining, the moon is waxing( growing or increasing) and there is a beautiful and cloudless sky of Uttarayan (six months of the northern course of the sun), then one unites with the Brahman. But if at that time there is dense smoke, there is darkness within and without, the moon is waning ( reducing or decreasing) and there is cloudy and dull sky of Dakshinayan (six months of the southern course of the sun), he again gets caught in the cycle of births and deaths.

This metaphor is puzzling to many. It tells that the grace of the gods of fire (Agni), sun, moon and sky is necessary for a holy death. Fire symbolizes karma and yajna—work and sacrifice. The sacrificial fire must be burning even at the time of death. Justice Ranade used to say, “Blessed is the death which comes while one is performing one’s duties. I shall be happy to die while reading, writing or doing something.” This is what the burning of sacrificial fire means. Working till the last breath signifies the grace of Agni, the god of fire. Grace of the sun-god keeps the intellect bright and radiant till the end. Grace of the moon is indicated by the growth of pure and sacred feelings in the heart at the time of death, as the moon is the god of the heart. Sacred feelings like love, devotion, enthusiasm, altruism (परोपकारिता), compassion etc. should wax and grow to fullness in the mind like the moon in the bright half of the month. The grace of the sky means having the heart completely free from the clouds of attachment.  

Uttarayan thus means freedom of the heart from the clouds of attachment. 

If death comes when a man’s body is engaged in service till the last breath, pure sentiments have grown to fullness, there is no trace of attachment in the heart and intellect is sharp and radiant, he becomes one with God. To have such a supremely auspicious end, one must ever be alert and continue to strive day and night. No impure and evil samskara should be permitted in the mind even for a single moment. One must pray constantly to the Lord to have the necessary strength to achieve this. Again and again, one should remember His Name and meditate over His nature and essence.

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