Bhagavad Gita · 8.5 · Path of the Eternal God·5 of 28
अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम्।यः प्रयाति स मद्भावं याति नास्त्यत्र संशयः ॥
anta-kāle cha mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāstyatra sanśhayaḥ
Sanskrit recitation
What you remember at the end · 8.1–8.13 · Teaching
Translation
And whoever, leaving their body, goes forth remembering Me alone at the time of death, they will attain My Being; there is no doubt about this.
Meaning
In this verse the importance of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is stressed. Anyone who quits his body in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is at once transferred to the transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is the purest of the pure. Therefore anyone who is constantly Kṛṣṇa conscious is also the purest of the pure. The word smaran (“remembering”) is important. Remembrance of Kṛṣṇa is not possible for the impure soul who has not practiced Kṛṣṇa consciousness in devotional service. Therefore one should practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness from the very beginning of life. If one wants to achieve success at the end of his life, the process of remembering Kṛṣṇa is essential. Therefore one should constantly, incessantly chant the mahā-mantra – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Lord Caitanya has advised that one be as tolerant as a tree ( taror api sahiṣṇunā ). There may be so many impediments for a person who is chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nonetheless, tolerating all these impediments, one should continue to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, so that at the end of one’s life one can have the full benefit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
After Swami Sivananda
What you remember at the end· 8.1–8.13→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 8.1Arjuna said, "What is Brahman? What is Adhyatma? What is action, O best among men? What is Adhibhuta declared to be? And, what is Adhidaiva said to be?"
- 8.2Who and how is Adhiyajna here in this body, O destroyer of Madhu? And how, at the time of death, are You to be known by the self-controlled?
- 8.3The Blessed Lord said, "Brahman is the Imperishable, the Supreme; its essential nature is called Self-knowledge; the offering (to the gods) that causes the existence and manifestation of beings and sustains them is called action."
- 8.4Adhibhuta—knowledge of the elements—pertains to My perishable nature, and the Purusha, or the Soul, is the Adhidaiva; I alone am the Adhiyajna here in this body, O best among the embodied.
8.5And whoever, leaving their body, goes forth remembering Me alone at the time of death, they will attain My Being; there is no doubt about this.
- 8.6Whoever at the end leaves the body, thinking of any being, to that being only does he go, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), due to his constant thought of that being.
- 8.7Therefore, at all times, remember Me only and fight. With your mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will undoubtedly come to Me alone.
- 8.8With the mind not moving towards any other thing, made steadfast through the practice of habitual meditation, and constantly meditating, one goes to the Supreme Person, the Resplendent, O Arjuna.
- 8.9Whosoever 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.
- 8.10At the time of death, with an unwavering mind, endowed with devotion, by the power of Yoga, fixing the whole life-breath in the middle of the two eyebrows, he reaches that resplendent Supreme Person.
- 8.11That which is declared to be Imperishable by those who know the Vedas, that which the self-controlled (ascetics or Sannyasins) and passion-free enter, that goal, desiring which celibacy is practised, I will declare to thee in brief.
- 8.12Having closed all the gates, confined the mind in the heart, and fixed the life-breath in the head, engage in the practice of concentration.
- 8.13Uttering the one-syllabled Om, the Brahman, and remembering Me, he who departs, leaving the body, attains the Supreme Goal.
Word-by-word→
- na
- no
- cha
- and
- eva
- alone
- asti
- there is
- atra
- here
- mām
- me
- saḥ
- he
- yaḥ
- who
- yāti
- achieves
- smaran
- remembering
- muktvā
- relinquish
- prayāti
- goes
- kalevaram
- the body
- anta-kāle
- at the time of death
- mat-bhāvam
- Godlike nature
- sanśhayaḥ
- doubt
Related verses
- 1.1Dhritarashtra said, "What did my people and the sons of Pandu do when they had assembled…
- 1.2Sanjaya said: Having seen the army of the Pandavas drawn up in battle array, King…
- 1.4Here are heroes, mighty archers, equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna, Yuyudhana (Satyaki),…
- 1.11Therefore, do all of you, stationed in your respective positions in the several divisions…