Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 8, Verse 13
ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन्।
यः प्रयाति त्यजन्देहं स याति परमां गतिम्।।
यः प्रयाति त्यजन्देहं स याति परमां गतिम्।।
oṁ ityekākṣaraṁ brahma vyāharan mām anusmaran
yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ sa yāti paramāṁ gatim
also searched as "om ityekaksharam brahma vyaharan mam anusmaran"
Translation
He who departs, leaving the body while uttering the single syllable, viz. "Om," which is Brahman, and thinking of Me, attains the supreme Goal.
Vāṇi's rendering
Sounding Om, the one syllable of the eternal, remembering me as you leave the body — you go the highest way.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ओम्oṁ | Om, the primal sound |
| इतिiti | thus, so called (appears as ity- before the following vowel) |
| एक-अक्षरम्eka-akṣaraṁ | the single syllable; the one imperishable sound |
| ब्रह्मbrahma | the eternal, the boundless |
| व्याहरन्vyāharan | sounding, uttering |
| माम्mām | me |
| अनुस्मरन्anusmaran | remembering, holding in mind |
| यःyaḥ | whoever |
| प्रयातिprayāti | goes forth, departs |
| त्यजन्tyajan | letting go of, leaving |
| देहम्dehaṁ | the body |
| सःsa | he, that one |
| यातिyāti | goes, reaches |
| परमाम्paramāṁ | highest, supreme |
| गतिम्gatim | the way, the going, the destination |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 Verse 13 mean?
It names what to carry at the moment of leaving: the syllable oṁ, sounded, and Krishna, remembered. Nothing more elaborate is asked. The one who departs that way goes the highest way — not to a better rebirth, but past return altogether.
What does om ityekaksharam brahma vyaharan mam anusmaran mean?
Sounding oṁ — that single syllable which is the eternal itself — and remembering me. Two acts, one motion. The sound steadies the breath, the remembrance steadies the mind, and the two together hold you in the right direction while the body is being set down.
Do I have to chant Om at the moment of death to reach the highest goal?
You cannot arrange that moment. Breath fails, awareness narrows, choosing ends. What surfaces then is whatever you have made habitual. So the verse is really an instruction for today: sound it, remember him, until the remembering no longer needs you to decide on it.
Why is Om called a single syllable and also called brahma here?
Because Krishna is not treating it as a symbol pointing elsewhere. Eka-akṣaraṁ means one syllable and also the one that does not perish. Sounded with attention, oṁ is not a name for the eternal; it is the eternal, small enough for a dying mouth to hold.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna gives Arjuna the smallest possible practice for the largest possible moment. One syllable. Not a doctrine to master, not a rite to perform — a sound, and a remembering, carried out on the last breath. But nobody sounds Om at the end who has not sounded it a thousand times before. What leaves with you is what you rehearsed. Arjuna is being told that the hour of death is not the hour of preparation; it is the hour when preparation shows. So the verse is not about dying. It is about what your mind reaches for when you are not choosing. Give it something to reach for.