THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER NUMBER 08
AKSHARA BRAHMA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN:
VERSE NUMBER 06
Text in Transliteration:
yam-yam vaa ‘pi smaran bhaavam tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam-tam evai ‘ti kaunteya sadaa tad bhaavabhaavitah
Text in English:
Whatever being a man thinks of at the last moment when he leaves his body, that alone does he attain, O Kaunteaya, being ever absorbed in the thought thereof.
THE SUMMARY OF THE COMMENTARY OF SHANKARA:
This rule shall not refer to thinking me alone. (it will refer to all). Whoever, at the time of leaving his body, thinks of whatever god he will attain that god. He won’t go to any other gods. Arjuna! Whatever tutelary deity in whose thought one lives, that deity he attains.
THE SUMMARY OF THE COMMENTARY OF RAMANUJA:
Here He says that at the end which matter one thinks of he attains the state of that thing. ande means the end of the life of one. What he thinks of at the time of death he goes to that. What one thinks of throughout one’s life that happens at the end of life also.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
Dream is only a projection of the mind and it has no corresponding external reality. But dream is the indicator of the trend of the mind of an individual; it cannot be recast or pre-arranged according to one’s will and pleasure. Just as the dreamer is, while in a dream, the creature of his own mental make up, so does the dying man assume at the time of death, a mental make up based on his bent in the course of that career. The gross manifestation, at a suitable time and environment, of that mental structure is what is called the next birth. Man is therefore always the architect of his destiny.
What then is it that man ought to do for his welfare both here and in the hereafter? The way is shown in the next verse.
COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:
sadaa tad bhaava bhaavitah: ever absorbed in the thought thereof.
It is not the casual fancy of the last moment but the persistent endeavour of the whole life that determines the future.
tadbhaavabhaavitah: literally, made to become (bhaavita) in the condition (bhaava) of that.
The soul goes to that on which its mind is set during the last moments. What we think we become. Our past thoughts determine our present birth and our present ones will determine the future.
COMMENTARY OF SWAMI SIVANANDA:
The last thoughts determine the next birth. The most prominent thought of one’s 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 become.
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 life can have remembrance of their tutelary deity at the time of death.
The analogy of the wasp and the caterpillar (Bhramara-Kita-Nyaya) 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 and example. He constantly thought of his Lord and assumed a form equal 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 your 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, all-blissful, 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 next birth. This desire will become very prominent 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 or 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.
Comments by the blogger:
The previous verse contemplates the end to the chain of birth and death. But this verse (verse number 6) allows for and takes into consideration the ordinary average man and woman who have not attained the stage as contemplated in the previous verse. The end of all sorrow is contemplated in verse 5, but here the Lord of great Compassion makes way for the average man and woman to attain and work for salvation by gradation. For, so many of the human beings cannot think of God when the time comes for leaving the body. On the contrary, instead of thinking of God of Gita, he or she thinks of the mane or some tutelary deity. God knows at the end everyone should come to Him. and that alone is the salvation to the souls. But He, in His infinite compassion, makes way for the step by step mukti or salvation. Thus whatever being, living or the manes, one thinks of at the time of leaving the body, one is allowed to go there. Of course, God craves for all of us. The mother knows the time for feeding has been due for some time, but the child is preoccupied with a pet toy. So, instead of force-feeding the child, she watches the baby while plays even though the breastmilk has started to leak and started to give her pain! This is the stat of God. He allows for our worldly desires to be shed not all at one birth like the case in the two other major Religions, the Lord of Gita WAITS! AND WATCHES US THROUGH OUR MILLENNIAL PLAYING WITH PETS LIKE LAND, GOLD, AND WOMAN!
WHEN WE THINK OF THE COMPASSION OF THE LORD OF GITA, OUR EYES BECOME MOIST AND MIST OVER!
{Dear Readers, apart from this blog, I am writing 6 more blogs. Among them, the first two are in Tamil, and the rest of them in English:
bagavatgitaintamil.blogspot.com
kaviriyinselvan.blogspot.com
myresourcefulaunt.blogspot.com
raguramkarikalanandthetimemachin.blogspot.com
panjakini.blogspot.com
raguramramayanaforchildren.blogspot.com
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