CH 8, Verse 5

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Chapter 8

Verse 5

 

Anta-kaale cha maam eva smaran muktvaa kalevaram /

yah prayaati sa mad-bhaavam yaati n'aasty atra

sa.nshayah //

 

And whoever, at the time of death, thinking of Me

alone, leaves the body and goes, he attains My being;

there is no doubt about this,

 

 

LESSONS FROM BHAGAVAD GITA – 78

As taught by Parama Pujya Sri Swamiji

Compiled by: Swami Dattananda

Bhaktimala, April 2000

 

In the beginning of the eighth chapter, Sri Krishna

describes the various aspects of the one Supreme

Godhead by way of answering the six questions of

Arjuna.

 

Akshara is the Supreme Impersonal Godhead or the

Supreme Brahman. His dwelling in all individual bodies

as the divine spirit is his inherent nature

(Svabhava.) This aspect of the Lord is called Adhyatma

because it pertains to the Self in relation to the

body. The offering in all the Vedic sacrifices is

called Karma. It includes all virtuous works done

without any selfish motive. The perishable adjunct or

the whole objective universe is Adhibhuta. Adhidaivata

is the Cosmic Soul (Hiranyagarbha,) whose rays are the

individual souls. Adhiyajna is the presiding deity of

sacrifice. The Lord Himself is the Adhiyajna in all

bodies.

 

Thus the Lord declares in these verses that all bodies

and all objects in the world are divine as the Lord

Himself dwells in them in His different aspects. The

seventh question put by Arjuna in the last verse is:

"how can a self-controlled man know the Lord at the

time of his death?" The Lord answers:

"And whoever, at the time of death, thinking of Me

alone, leaves the body and goes, he attains My being;

there is no doubt about this" (Chapter 8, Verse 5).

 

He who thinks of the Lord at the time of death attains

the nature of the Lord. There is no doubt about this.

But if a man has given his whole life in the thought

of his wealth, wife and children or any other material

pleasure, then it is difficult for him to think of the

Lord at the time of his death. As his mind was

engrossed in worldly things only the thoughts

pertaining to them will come to his mind at the time

of death and not the thought of God. If, however, he

were to meditate on the Lord all the time, he would

remember the Lord even at the hour of his death.

 

 

 

 

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