Bhagavad Gita BG 8.6
Chapter 8, Verse 6 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम् । तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावितः ॥
yam yam vApi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram tam tam evaiti kaunteya sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
Meaning
Whatever state of being one remembers when one gives up the body at the end — to that very state one goes, O Kaunteya, always being made of that being.
Understanding
The general law behind v5's specific promise: yam yam bhavam smaran (whatever being/state one remembers) — tyajaty ante kalevaram (at the end, gives up the body) — tam tam eva eti (to that very state one goes). The principle: sada tad-bhava-bhavitah (always, one has been made of that being — having been continuously formed/shaped by that state). What you think at the moment of death reflects what you have been thinking your entire life. The final thought is not random — it is the cumulative trajectory of a lifetime's orientation.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| भावम् | bhavam | state of being, condition, thought, emotion |
| त्यजति | tyajati | gives up, abandons, releases |
| भावभावितः | bhava-bhavitah | one who has been made of/formed by that state |
| सदा | sada | always, continuously, perpetually |
| याम् | yām | which, whatever |
| याम् | yām | which |
| वापि | vāpi | or also |
| स्मरन् | smaran | remembering |
| भावम् | bhāvam | state of being, nature |
| अन्ते | ante | at the end, at death |
| कलेवरम् | kalevaram | the body |
| तम् | tam | that |
| तम् | tam | that very |
| एव | eva | exactly |
| एति | eti | attains, reaches |
| कौन्तेय | kaunteya | O Arjuna (son of Kunti) |
| सदा | sadā | always, constantly |
| तद्-भाव-भावितः | tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ | absorbed in thinking of that state |