Bhagavad Gita 8.6
Spoken by Krishna ☆ Key verse · Verse 6 of 28
यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम् | तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावितः ||६||
yaṃ yaṃ vāpi smaran bhāvaṃ tyajaty ante kalevaram | taṃ tam evaiti kaunteya sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ || 6 ||
Whatever state of being one remembers at death — to that state one attains, shaped by one's constant thought.
Word by word (3)
- yaṃ yaṃ vāpi smaran bhāvaṃ / tyajaty ante kalevaram
- — Whatever state of being one remembers / while leaving the body at the end · yaṃ yaṃ = whatever…whatever (repeated relative pronoun — universal scope, any bhāva at all). vāpi = also, even. smaran = remembering (present participle from √smṛ — the act of holding in mind, of being absorbed in). bhāvaṃ = state of being, condition, nature (from √bhū = to be — bhāva = the particular way of being that occupies consciousness, the 'being-quality' one is absorbed in). tyajati = leaves, abandons (from √tyaj = to leave, release — tyajati = one who leaves). ante = at the end, at last (anta = end; ante = locative, 'at the end' — anta-kāla, the final moment, the time of death). kalevaram = the body (kalevara = the physical body, especially used when referring to the body being left at death). The complete action: whatever bhāva the consciousness is absorbed in when it departs the body — that bhāva shapes the departure.
- taṃ tam evaiti kaunteya / sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ
- — To that same state one goes, O Kaunteya / having been constantly formed by that state of being · taṃ tam = to that same state (repeated demonstrative pronoun echoing yaṃ yaṃ — whatever was remembered is exactly what is reached). eva = indeed, alone (emphatic). eti = goes to, reaches (from √i = to go — eti = goes to, attains). kaunteya = O Kaunteya (son of Kuntī — Arjuna's name as son of the mother who exemplifies devotion; this address is gentle but direct). sadā = always, constantly (temporal — the death-state is not random; it is the CONSTANT state deepened). tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ = formed by that bhāva (tad = that; bhāva = state; bhāvita = shaped by, formed by, steeped in — from √bhāvita = made to be, cultivated into; compound = one who has been constantly made into that state). The mechanism: it is not the last random thought that determines departure — it is the state of being that has been constantly cultivated throughout life (sadā — always). The death-moment thought is the natural expression of the dominant orientation of a lifetime.
- V6's sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ — the mechanism behind V5's assurance
- — The 'constant formation' principle: death-moment consciousness is shaped by lifetime cultivation · V6 is the philosophical underpinning of V5. V5 gave the assurance: 'whoever remembers Me at death attains My Being.' V6 explains WHY this works and how to prepare for it: sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ — one is constantly being shaped (bhāvitaḥ) by whatever state (bhāva) one has been dwelling in throughout life. The word bhāvitaḥ (formed-by, shaped-into) is related to bhāvanā — cultivation, meditation, the becoming-what-one-contemplates process. This is the deepest logic of the Gita's practice teaching: you become what you repeatedly contemplate; you depart in the state your life has been forming you toward; therefore the practice of remembering Krishna throughout life is the preparation for V5's death-moment recognition. Swarupananda's commentary captures this: 'the most prominent thought of one's life occupies the mind at the time of death. One cannot get rid of it.' V6 is the Gita's formulation of what modern neuroscience calls neuroplasticity — what you practice becomes what you are.
Whatever state of being one dwells upon as one leaves the body at the end, to that state one goes, O son of Kuntī, shaped by a lifetime of that thought.
A modern analogy
A musician who has spent 10,000 hours practicing a particular piece will play it automatically even under extreme pressure. Their fingers 'remember' it because it has been built into their neural patterns. This verse's principle of sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ — being constantly shaped by one's thought — is the same idea applied to consciousness: what one has been constantly formed by is what fires automatically at the moment of maximum stress — death.
What it does NOT mean
This verse is NOT about trying to have the 'right' last thought in a panic at deathbed. It is about the principle that conscious absorption shapes consciousness — what one constantly dwells on becomes what one IS, and therefore what one departs as. The verse makes spiritual practice urgent but removes all anxiety about the specific mechanics of dying: just cultivate the right orientation throughout life, and the death-moment will follow naturally.
Take with you
- This verse makes every moment of practice a deposit toward the death-moment. The practice done today is not separate from the previous verse's teaching of remembering the Divine at death — it is the preparation for it. Every meditation session, every moment of karma yoga, every act of devotion is a bhāvana (cultivation) that shapes the bhāva (state) that will be present at death.
- The word sadā (always/constantly) is the key to understanding the Gita's urgency about continuous practice. It is not enough to think of Krishna occasionally — being constantly shaped by one's thought means the DOMINANT orientation of a life is what shapes the departure. The Gita is asking: what is the dominant orientation of your life? What are you constantly being formed by?
- This verse applies universally, not just to devotees: everyone goes to what they have been most formed by throughout life. This is not a reward/punishment system — it is a description of how consciousness works. The yogi who has been shaped by the recognition of the Imperishable (akṣara) departs toward the Imperishable. The one shaped by attachment to the material departs toward the material.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Remembering whatever object, at the end, he leaves the body, that alone is reached by him, O son of Kunti, (because) of his constant thought of that object. [4]
Whichever form he thinks of at the last moment, when he leaves the body, O son of Kuntî, to that he goes, having been made to think of it by constant practice. [5]
Whatever being or principle he may think of at the last moment when he leaves his body, that, O son of Kunti, he assuredly goes to, being in the habit of thinking about it. [6]
But, if he meditated otherwise At hour of death, in putting off the flesh, He goes to what he looked for, Kunti's Son! Because the Soul is fashioned to its like. [7]
Also whichever form (of deity) he remembers when he finally leaves this body, to that he goes, O son of Kunti! having been used to ponder on it. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Whoever at death remembers Me alone — leaving the body — attains My very Being. Of this, there is no doubt.
Therefore remember Me at all times and fight — mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will come to Me without doubt.
Yes, the mind is restless and hard to restrain — but through abhyāsa and vairāgya, it is governed.
Arjuna sees his own people ready to die — and his body breaks before his mind can argue.
Your body changed from childhood to age without 'you' dying — changing bodies is no different.
Unborn. Undying. Ancient. Eternal. Not slain when the body is slain — this is what you are.
Verse 6 of 28 · back to Chapter 8