Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 5

Chapter 8 – Akshara Brahma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम् ।
यः प्रयाति स मद्भावं याति नास्त्यत्र संशयः ॥

Transliteration

antakāle ca māmeva smaranmuktvā kalevaram .
yaḥ prayāti sa madbhāvaṃ yāti nāstyatra saṃśayaḥ ॥

Meaning

Whoever, at the time of death, leaves the body remembering Me alone, attains My own being. Of this there is no doubt.

Word meanings

अन्तकाले – at the end of life
च – and
माम् एव – Me alone
स्मरन् – remembering
मुक्त्वा – having left
कलेवरम् – the body
यः – whoever
प्रयाति – departs
सः – he
मद्भावम् – My nature, My state of being
याति – attains
न अस्ति अत्र संशयः – there is no doubt in this

Anvaya (word order)

यः च अन्तकाले मामेव स्मरन् कलेवरं मुक्त्वा प्रयाति, सः मद्भावं याति; अत्र संशयः न अस्ति ।

Explanation

This is the Lord's direct answer to Arjuna's last question, how He is to be known at the time of death. "Whoever, at the end of life, leaves the body remembering Me alone, attains My state of being; there is no doubt about this." The promise is stated with striking confidence: no doubt, nasty atra samshayah.

The words "anta-kale", at the end time, and "mam eva smaran", remembering Me alone, are the heart of the verse. The Gita does not say that merely uttering the Lord's name in the last moment guarantees liberation. It says that a person who is truly absorbed in remembrance at that time reaches the Lord's own bhava, His mode of being, with certainty. And as the verses that follow will explain, what is remembered at death is not arbitrary but the fruit of a lifetime.

Shankara explains that the state attained is the Lord's own nature, Vishnu's supreme state, and that the verse shows how important the last thought is for the one engaged in meditation. Ramanuja reads "mad-bhavam" as the attainment of a nature like the Lord's, free from bondage and endowed with the qualities of knowledge and bliss that characterise the released soul, while remaining a servant. Madhva holds that it means reaching the Lord's realm and companionship, the highest state for the devoted.

The significance of the last thought has a natural basis. A person who has been absorbed all his life in work, family or sport often finds that the mind at the end turns to those things. Hospital staff say that dying people often speak of what they loved most, their mother, their children, the garden, or a deity. So the Gita is not talking of a rehearsed formula but of a mind trained over many years to return to the Lord in the face of everything, including the greatest upheaval.

This verse should not be misused as an excuse to postpone devotion to the end of life. The next verses insist that the last thought comes from the habit of a lifetime. It is the same lesson as in 2.72, where firm abiding in the Self even at the end of life brings the bliss of Brahman, and in 8.10 for the one who at death fixes the life breath between the brows with devotion. The wise habit is to practise remembrance daily, in small ways, so that it comes naturally when it matters most.

Context

In 8.2 Arjuna asked how the Lord is known at the time of death. This is the direct answer, which is elaborated in the following verses (8.6-8).

Life lesson

Every day of life is preparation for the last moment. Learn to remember God a little each day, so that the mind learns to turn that way by itself.

Key terms

अन्तकाल: the moment of death, when the body is shed
कलेवर: body, that which is bound to fall
मद्भाव: My being, My state
स्मरण: remembrance, the mind resting on the Lord