BHAGAVAD-GITA 8:6

March 20, 2004

BHAGAVAD-GITA 8:6

yam yam vapi smaran bhavam

tyajaty ante kalevaram

tam tam evaiti kaunteya

sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

WORD FOR WORD

yam yam--whatever; va api--at all; smaran--remembering;

bhavam--nature; tyajati--gives up; ante--at the end; kalevaram--this

body; tam tam--similar; eva--certainly; eti--gets; kaunteya--O son of

Kunti; sada--always; tat--that; bhava--state of being;

bhavitah--remembering.

TRANSLATION

Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of

Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.

PURPORT

The process of changing one's nature at the critical moment of death

is here explained. A person who at the end of his life quits his body

thinking of Krsna attains the transcendental nature of the Supreme

Lord, but it is not true that a person who thinks of something other

than Krsna attains the same transcendental state. This is a point we

should note very carefully. How can one die in the proper state of

mind? Maharaja Bharata, although a great personality, thought of a

deer at the end of his life, and so in his next life he was

transferred into the body of a deer. Although as a deer he remembered

his past activities, he had to accept that animal body. Of course,

one's thoughts during the course of one's life accumulate to influence

one's thoughts at the moment of death, so this life creates one's next

life. If in one's present life one lives in the mode of goodness and

always thinks of Krsna, it is possible for one to remember Krsna at

the end of one's life. That will help one be transferred to the

transcendental nature of Krsna. If one is transcendentally absorbed in

Krsna's service, then his next body will be transcendental

(spiritual), not material. Therefore the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare

Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare

Hare is the best process for successfully changing one's state of

being at the end of one's life.

permission.

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