8.9 He who meditates on the Omniscient, the Anceint, the Ruler, subtler than the subtle, the Ordainer of everything, of inconceivable form, effulgent like the sun, and beyond darkness-(he attains the supreme Person).

8.9 He who meditates on the Omniscient, the Anceint, the Ruler, subtler than the subtle, the Ordainer of everything, of inconceivable form, effulgent like the sun, and beyond darkness-(he attains the supreme Person). 8.9 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. 8.9 Yah, he who, anyone who; anusmaret, meditates on; kavim, the Omniscient, the Knower of things past, present and future; puranam, the Ancient, the Eternal; anusasitaram, the Ruler, the Lord of the whole Universe; aniyamsam, subtler; anoh, than the subtle; dhataram, the Ordainer; sarvasya, of every-thing-one who grants the fruits of actions, in all their varieties, individually to all creatures; acintya-rupam, who is of inconceivable form-His form, though always existing, defies being conceived of by anybody; aditya-varnam, who is effulgent like the sun, who is manifest as eternal Consciousness like the effulgence of the sun; and parastat, beyond; tamasah, darkness-beyond the darkness of delusion in the form of ignorance-(he attains the supreme Person). This verse is to be connected with the earlier itself thus: 'by meditating (on Him)৷৷.he attains Him.' Further,

।।8.9।। जो सर्वज्ञ, पुराण, शासन करनेवाला, सूक्ष्म-से-सूक्ष्म, सबका धारण-पोषण करनेवाला, अज्ञानसे अत्यन्त परे, सूर्यकी तरह प्रकाशस्वरूप -- ऐसे अचिन्त्य स्वरूपका चिन्तन करता है।

।।8.9।। व्याख्या--'कविम्'-- सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंको और उनके सम्पूर्ण शुभाशुभ कर्मोंको जाननेवाले होनेसे उन परमात्माका नाम 'कवि' अर्थात् सर्वज्ञ है।'पुराणम्'--वे परमात्मा सबके आदि होनेसे 'पुराण' कहे जाते हैं।'अनुशासितारम्'-- हम देखते हैं तो नेत्रोंसे देखते हैं। नेत्रोंके ऊपर मन शासन करता है, मनके ऊपर बुद्धि और बुद्धिके ऊपर 'अहम्' शासन करता है तथा 'अहम्' के ऊपर भी जो शासन करता है, जो सबका आश्रय, प्रकाशक और प्रेरक है, वह (परमात्मा) 'अनुशासिता' है।दूसरा भाव यह है कि जीवोंका कर्म करनेका जैसा-जैसा स्वभाव बना है, उसके अनुसार ही परमात्मा (वेद, शास्त्र, गुरु, सन्त आदिके द्वारा) कर्तव्य-कर्म करनेकी आज्ञा देते हैं और मनुष्योंके पुराने पाप-पुण्यरूप,कर्मोंके अनुसार अनुकूल-प्रतिकूल परिस्थिति भेजकर उन मनुष्योंको शुद्ध, निर्मल बनाते हैं। इस प्रकार मनुष्योंके लिये कर्तव्य-अकर्तव्यका विधान करनेवाले और मनुष्योंके पाप-पुण्यरूप पुराने कर्मोंका (फल देकर) नाश करनेवाले होनेसे परमात्मा 'अनुशासिता' है।'अणोरणीयांसम्'--परमात्मा परमाणुसे भी अत्यन्त सूक्ष्म हैं। तात्पर्य है कि परमात्मा मन-बुद्धिके विषय नहीं हैं; मन-बुद्धि आदि उनको पकड़ नहीं पाते। मन-बुद्धि तो प्रकृतिका कार्य होनेसे प्रकृतिको भी पकड़ नहीं पाते, फिर परमात्मा तो उस प्रकृतिसे भी अत्यन्त परे हैं! अतः वे परमात्मा सूक्ष्मसे भी अत्यन्त सूक्ष्म हैं अर्थात् सूक्ष्मताकी अन्तिम सीमा हैं।    'सर्वस्य धातारम्' -- परमात्मा अनन्तकोटि ब्रह्माण्डोंको धारण करनेवाले हैं, उनका पोषण करनेवाले हैं। उन सभीको परमात्मासे ही सत्ता-स्फूर्ति मिलती है। अतः वे परमात्मा सबका धारण-पोषण करनेवाले कहे जाते हैं।'तमसः परस्तात्'--परमात्मा अज्ञानसे अत्यन्त परे हैं, अज्ञानसे सर्वथा रहित हैं। उनमें लेशमात्र भी अज्ञान नहीं है, प्रत्युत वे अज्ञानके भी प्रकाशक हैं।'आदित्यवर्णम्'--उन परमात्माका वर्ण सूर्यके समान है अर्थात् वे सूर्यके समान सबको मन-बुद्धि आदिको प्रकाशित करनेवाले हैं। उन्हींसे सबको प्रकाश मिलता है।'अचिन्त्यरूपम्'--उन परमात्माका स्वरूप अचिन्त्य है अर्थात् वे मन-बुद्धि आदिके चिन्तनका विषय नहीं हैं।'अनुस्मरेत्'--सर्वज्ञ, अनादि, सबके शासक, परमाणुसे भी अत्यन्त सूक्ष्म, सबका धारण-पोषण करनेवाले, अज्ञानसे अत्यन्त परे और सबको प्रकाशित करनेवाले सगुण-निराकार परमात्माके चिन्तनके लिये यहाँ 'अनुस्मरेत्' पद आया है।   यहाँ 'अनुस्मरेत्' कहनेका तात्पर्य है कि प्राणिमात्र उन परमात्माकी जानकारीमें हैं; उनकी जानकारीके बाहर कुछ है ही नहीं अर्थात् उन परमात्माको सबका स्मरण है, अब उस स्मरणके बाद मनुष्य उन परमात्माको याद कर ले।      यहाँ शङ्का होती है कि जो अचिन्त्य है, उसका स्मरण कैसे करें? इसका समाधान है कि 'वह परमात्मतत्त्व चिन्तनमें नहीं आता'--ऐसी दृढ़ धारणा ही अचिन्त्य परमात्माका चिन्तन है।  सम्बन्ध --अब अन्तकालके चिन्तनके अनुसार गति बताते हैं।

One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun, and He is transcendental, beyond this material nature.

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.