Download Bhagwad Gita 8.6 Download BG 8.6 as Image

⮪ BG 8.5 Bhagwad Gita English BG 8.7⮫

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 Verse 6

भगवद् गीता अध्याय 8 श्लोक 6

यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम्।
तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावितः।।8.6।।

English Translation - Swami Gambirananda

8.6 O son of Kunti, thinking of any entity whichever it may be one gives up the body at the end, he attains that very one, having been always engrossed in its thought.

English Translation - Swami Sivananda

8.6 Whosoever at the end leaves the body, thinking of any being, to that being only does he go, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), because of his constant thought of that being.

English Translation - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan

8.6. And also remembering whatever being, a person leaves his body at the end [of his life], that being alone he attains, O son of Kunti ! [Because] he has been constantly thinking about that being.

English Commentary - Swami Sivananda

8.6 यम् which? यम् which? वा or? अपि even? स्मरन् remembering? भावम् nature (idea of object)? त्यजति leaves? अन्ते in the end? कलेवरम् the body? तम् to that? तम् to that? एव only? एति goes? कौन्तेय O Kaunteya? सदा constantly? तद्भावभावितः thinking of that object.Commentary The last thoughts determine the next birth. The most prominent thought of ones life occupies the mind at the time of death. The predominant idea at the time of death is what in normal life has occupied his attention most. The last thought determines the nature or character of the body to be attained next. As a man thinketh? so shall he becometh.The force of Samskaras which one has created by his previous practice is the cause of their remembrance at death. Those who have practised worship of God throughout their life can have remembrance of their tutelary deity at the time of death.The analogy of the wasp and the caterpillar (BhramaraKitaNyaya) can be applied here. The caterpillar constantly remembers the wasp and becomes eventually transformed into a wasp. Even so he who constantly remembers his tutelary deity becomes identical with that deity. Nandikesvara is an example. He constantly thought of his Lord and assumed a form eal to that of the Lord.If you constantly think of the immortal Self during your lifetime? you will entertain the thought of the Self only even at the time of death and will attain immortality. If you always think of your body and identify yourself with the perishable body you will be born again and again. If you think of you pet dog at the time of death you will be born as a dog. Raja Jadabharata thought of his pet deer at the time of his death and so he took the birth of a deer.Every man has a definite outlook on life? definite mode of thinking? definite cravings? desires and hopes? definite character? temperament? taste? disposition and attitude.This is all due to the impressions which have become part and parcel of his subconsciousness. This is all due to experiences which have left their indelible impressions on his mind.He always thinks of his body and physical needs. He searches for his happiness in the external? perishable objects. He identifies himself with the perishable body. He ignores his innermost? allblissful? immortal Self? the source of everything. He trains his body? senses? mind and intellect in worldly pursuits. He ignores the Yogic discipline of the mind and the senses. Therefore he always thinks of his body? bread? drink and clothing. He forgets all about God and the Self? the indweller? an embodiment of bliss and knowledge? fountain of joy and happiness.Desires are endless. Therefore man cannot gratify them in one birth. At the time of death the whole storehouse of impressions and desires is churned out and the most prominent? the strongest and cherished desire comes to the surface of the mind or the field of mental consciousness. This churned up butter or cream (cherished desire) arrests his attention for immediate gratification. He thinks of only that at the time of death. Just as the most vital mango plant shoots up prominently in the nursery? so also the strongest desire shoots up on the surface of the mind. If the desire is not gratified his mind gets saturated with it and it is gratified in his nextbirth. This desire will become very promenent in his next birth.You yourself are the author of your own destiny. You yourself are responsible for your thoughts? character? feelings? actions and experiences. You planted certain worldly desires and Samskaras in your subconscious mind? and allowed them to germinate and grow. If you had planted spiritual aspiration? the desire for liberation and spiritual Samskaras? you would reap the fruit of immortality and eternal bliss. As you sow so shall you reap.He who practises constant and profound meditation on the Self of his own tutelary deity throughout his life will be able to meet death with an unruffled mind. He alone would go to the Supreme? thinking of It at the time of his departure from this world? too. You should have exclusive devotion to God. Your whole mind must be absorbed in Him. You should not allow any outside worldly impressions? wherein there is an iota of selfish desire? to sink into your subconscious mind. Then you can think of the Lord exclusively at the time of death and enter His very Being.

English Translation of Sanskrit Commentary By Sri Shankaracharya's

8.6 O Son of Kunti, smaran, thinking of; bhavam, any entity, any particular deity; yam yam va api, which ever it may be; tyajati, one gives up; the kalevaram, body; ante, at the end, at the time of the departure of life; eti, he attains; tam tam eva, that very one, that very entity which is remembered-none else; having been sada, always; tadbhava-bhavitah, engrossed in its thought. Engrossment in it is tad-bhavah; one by whom that is remembered as a matter of habitual recollection is tadbhava-bhavitah. Since the last thought is thus the cause of aciring the next body-

English Translation of Commentary - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan

8.6 See Comment under 8.7

English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary

8.6 At the end, at the time of death, remembering whatsoever thought one abandones the body, to that alone one goes after death. The final thought arises only with reference to objects pervioulsy ruminated upon in ones thought. As the final thought results only about an object previously contemplated upon,

Commentary - Chakravarthi Ji

This verse explains that just as, by remembering me, one attains me (stated in the previous verse), so by remembering something else, one attains something else, being completely absorbed in, or being similar to the object (bhavitah) by constant thoughts (bhava) of that object.

Rudra Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary

It is not that this rule is only applicable regarding remembering the Supreme Lord Krishna and attaining His nature. What then is it applicable too, one may wonder? This rule applies to whatever object or being one might envision as the last thought before leaving the physical body at the moment of death. Without fail one will become the very thing which one was envisioning when they died. The cause of smaran or remembering something specific at the time of death is due to constantly thinking about or meditating upon something with the mind fully absorbed in it.

Brahma Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary

Lord Krishna states smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram meaning leaves the body at the final moment remembering. To insure that there is no confusion or contradiction in the minds of the ignorant, the adjective ante meaning at the final moment is spoken. It is not that the Supreme Lord should be meditated on only at the moment of death. To the contrary He should be remembered, recollected and contemplated upon at every moment. The spiritually developed have no such confusion as their remembrance of the Supreme Lord is the focal point of their lives and constant. To think that such remembrance is to be utilized only as a one time proposition at the moment of death is an unwise consideration. The Skanda Purana states that: There is no doubt that at the time of death it is not easy to remember the Supreme Lord due to the difficulties of dying. At the time of departure from the body one must be attuned to the inner nature. The word bhava means internal consciousness. The internal consciousness is that which abides internally thus it is said it is the nature which abides within. Only if one contemplates something continuously does it become fixed as internal consciousness and manifest as a part of ones nature. Otherwise what one will think at the moment of death will be mere ego related ideas derived from ones own mundane empirical experiences.

Shri Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary

Whatever image prominently floats in ones thoughts at the moment of death and one leaves ones physical body with that final thought one will become in their very next life. This is what Lord Krishna is stating in this verse. Their final thought will become form. Ones final thought will naturally be what was constantly reflected upon and mediated on during their span of life based upon ones association and daily habits.

Kumara Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary

Whatever image prominently floats in ones thoughts at the moment of death and one leaves ones physical body with that final thought one will become in their very next life. This is what Lord Krishna is stating in this verse. Their final thought will become form. Ones final thought will naturally be what was constantly reflected upon and mediated on during their span of life based upon ones association and daily habits.

Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 8.6

Yam yam vaapi smaran bhaavam tyajatyante kalevaram; Tam tamevaiti kaunteya sadaa tadbhaavabhaavitah.

Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 8.6

yam yam—whatever; vā—or; api—even; smaran—remembering; bhāvam—remembrance; tyajati—gives up; ante—in the end; kalevaram—the body; tam—to that; tam—to that; eva—certainly; eti—gets; kaunteya—Arjun, the son of Kunti; sadā—always; tat—that; bhāva-bhāvitaḥ—absorbed in contemplation