Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 8, Verse 5
अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम्।
यः प्रयाति स मद्भावं याति नास्त्यत्र संशयः।।
यः प्रयाति स मद्भावं याति नास्त्यत्र संशयः।।
anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāstyatra sanśayaḥ
also searched as "anta-kale ca mam eva smaran muktva kalevaram"
Translation
And at the time of death, anyone who departs, giving up the body while thinking of Me alone, attains My state; there is no doubt about this.
Vāṇi's rendering
Whoever leaves the body remembering me alone comes into my being. Of this there is no doubt.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अन्तकालेanta-kāle | at the time of the end, at the hour of death |
| चca | and |
| माम्mām | me |
| एवeva | alone, only |
| स्मरन्smaran | remembering, holding in mind |
| मुक्त्वाmuktvā | having let go of, releasing |
| कलेवरम्kalevaram | the body |
| यःyaḥ | whoever |
| प्रयातिprayāti | goes forth, departs |
| सःsa | he, that one (sa before the following consonant) |
| मद्भावम्mad-bhāvaṁ | my being, my own state |
| यातिyāti | comes into, reaches |
| नna | not (joined as nāsti) |
| अस्तिasti | there is (sandhi: na + asti + atra becomes nāstyatra) |
| अत्रatra | here, in this matter |
| संशयःsaṁśayaḥ | doubt |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 Verse 5 mean?
Krishna says that whoever releases the body while remembering him alone comes into his own being, and he closes the sentence by removing all doubt from it. No merit is counted, no lineage weighed. The one condition is remembrance — and remembrance at that hour is made of everything remembered before it.
What does 'anta kale cha mam eva smaran muktva kalevaram' mean?
It means: at the time of the end, remembering me alone, letting go of the body. Kalevaram is simply the frame you have worn. Muktvā is release, not defeat — the way a hand opens. What matters in the line is where the mind is turned as the hand opens.
Does this verse mean only my last thought decides everything?
It means the last thought reveals everything. You do not compose it in the moment; it rises out of the grooves your days have cut. That is why Krishna will speak next of remembering always. The final remembrance is not an exam to pass but a fruit that has already ripened.
How can I remember Krishna at death if I cannot control my mind now?
You are not asked to control the mind, only to keep returning it. Each return leaves a mark. Over years the mark becomes a road, and a mind under pressure takes the road it knows. Practise the turning now, in ordinary hours, and that hour will not need your effort.
Why does Krishna add that there is no doubt about this?
Because the dying mind doubts everything else. He gives no argument, offers no proof, sets no clause — nāstyatra saṁśayaḥ, there is no doubt here. It is a promise, not a proposition. Krishna speaks it so that when nothing else in you is steady, this one sentence can be.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna does not ask for a lifetime of flawless practice here. He asks for one thing at one moment — that the mind, as the body is let go, be turned toward him. But no one chooses what they remember while dying. What surfaces then is whatever the years have worn into you: the habit, not the intention. So the verse is quietly about now. Every remembrance you practise today is rehearsal for a moment you will not get to prepare for. Krishna adds no condition, no rank, no qualification — only remembrance, and his word that there is no doubt in it. Begin where you sit.