Bhagavad Gita 86: Remembering God at the Moment of Death · Study guide

This lesson continues the eighth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Akshara-Brahma Yoga, with verses 3 to 8. Arjuna has asked how God is to be known at the time of death, and Swami Jyotirmayananda first draws a picture of the whole spiritual movement. The picture is two triangles, one descending from Brahman to God to the world, the other ascending as the soul rises toward God. Laid over each other they make a star; shrunk to two lines, a cross; given wings, the swastika. Swamiji’s claim is that these are one symbol, and that whoever grasps it is not separated from the spiritual movement even at death. Verses 3 and 4 then fill in the triangles with the terms Arjuna asked about. Akshara is the imperishable Brahman. Adhyatma is Brahman willing to become many, and its power works through three shaktis. Adhibhuta, adhidaiva and adhiyajna name the soul’s ascent: identified with the body, developing divine qualities, and purified by spiritual discipline. Verses 5 and 6 bring the lesson to its center. Whoever leaves the body remembering God attains Him; whatever a person thinks of at death, that being he attains. Swamiji treats death as a change of clothes for a festival, and explains how the karmas of a lifetime are churned at the end into a last thought. Verses 7 and 8 give the method: abhyasa, repeated practice, sustained long, without a break, and with reverence. If you read for one thread, follow the mother and the child. God comes down as a mother, the soul rises as a baby, and when death comes, the same mother bathes the baby and changes its clothes whether it likes it or not.

Where each passage begins

Two triangles

Arjuna had asked several questions, and Krishna’s answers, Swamiji says, present the essence of the scriptures: the role of God and the role of the soul. Before reading the third verse, he shows the shape of the whole teaching as a yantra, a mystic diagram. There is first a descending movement. “Brahman is the absolute reality.” From Brahman arises God, Ishvara, who controls, and from God arises this world of activity. That descent is drawn as a triangle. “The base is up and the apex down.” From the soul’s point of view there is an ascending movement, and it is drawn as another triangle, base down and apex up. Intersect the two and you get the star of David. Such symbols, Swamiji adds, belong to no country or race. “They are mystic science.” The same star turns into the swastika. Shrink the descending triangle to a vertical line and the ascending one to a horizontal line, and you have a cross; give it wings and it becomes the swastika, seen in every home and celebration. Svasti means good. “Swastika promoter of all that is good and auspicious.” Swamiji does not pass over its recent history. “This great divine symbol was corrupted by Hitler.” Then he states his purpose. “The horizontal vision that belongs to jīva, soul.” “The vertical that stands for God.” “The cross is same as David’s star.” “David’s star is same as Swastika.” If you have grasped that meaning, you become deeply involved in the spiritual movement, and even at the time of death you are not separated from it. This, Swamiji says, is how Krishna begins to answer the question of how a person can remember God at the end.

Verse 3: Brahman the imperishable

Verse 3 reads: the supreme Brahman is Akshara, the imperishable. That is the ultimate reality, and there is nothing else. “Kṣara is all that perishes.” Another word for it is anitya, the impermanent. All the lokas, the planes of experience, are perishable: the senses, where you eat, drink and be merry; sentiment, with its music, arts, love and hate; and the intellect, with its science and philosophy. Every soul soaks in these three. “The goal for the soul is not to be confined to the lokas.” Swamiji plays on the word: loka and “look” share the same root letters. Each plane is a look, a way of looking. “Reality is the same.” “But your looking aspect is like putting on different glasses.” Every soul is a mixture, a khichdi of the three planes, and that blend is what makes it difficult to get out.

The sun and the soul in the pot

For easier understanding, Swamiji offers an image. “Think of Akshara, God, the supreme as the sun.” The same sun, as if entering a pot, is reflected there. That is the downward movement, the movement of the jiva. The soul in the bucket, confined to body and mind, has a different story. “But all the while the soul is nothing but the sun.” So the movement runs both ways. “The soul in the bucket has to rise.” “God as the sun has to come down.” “Come down as a mother. Soul has to rise as a baby.” “Together, they unfold each other.” “Drama is over.” “That’s liberation.” If that level of understanding has taken hold, Swamiji says, it becomes easy to remember God at death. “Even at the time of death, your memory of God will be more vivid, more profound.” Learn this from children: in any trouble, turning to the mother is the deepest sentiment.

Adhyatma and the three shaktis

The verse goes on: adhyatma, the subjective Self, is His very own nature. In Vedanta the highest truth is Brahman; then Brahman with Maya comes to a stage of willing, described in mystic language. “I am alone, one, may I be many.” “The willing aspect, that’s called Adhyatma.” Then comes the dynamic aspect of Maya. “The dynamic aspect is called Śakti.” Shiva and Shakti. “Śakti is a dynamic movement that allows the soul to ascend and attain liberation.” And Shakti is of three types. Kriya shakti is the energy behind your actions, operating through the navel center. With good energy, actions remove impurities; without it, they create more entanglements. Its presiding deity is Durga Devi. Iccha shakti operates through the heart center, following the plan of the kundalini. Its deity is Lakshmi Devi, bestower of divine qualities and of shubha vasanas, auspicious impressions. Highest of all is jnana shakti, at the ajna chakra between the eyebrows. “The deity of Jñāna Śakti is Sarasvatī Devī.” Now the descending triangle can be named. Akshara, the Supreme. Adhyatma, which is saguna Brahman, God involved in creation, sustenance and dissolution. And His energy, Maya Shakti, in its threefold form. “This is the triangle with the apex down.”

Verse 4: the ascending triangle

Then Swamiji turns attention to the individual. Verse 4 reads: adhibhuta, the world of elements, is My perishable nature; adhidaiva is the Purusha, the Divine Self; adhiyajna is Myself abiding in all. For easy understanding, adhibhuta is God playing the role of the soul identified with the body. “Body is constantly changing.” “And that body identity is Adhibhūta.” Adhidaiva is “The soul developing divine qualities.” and going on evolving. Adhiyajna comes from yajna, which Swamiji defines broadly: “All the spiritual disciplines that purify the soul.” “Bring the soul to its pure state.” That is the triangle with the apex upward. The soul identified with the body develops divine qualities, purifies the mind, rises, and blends with God. And at that point even God is no longer the creator. “And God doesn’t stay as God, creation; God is Brahman, the Absolute.” If these points have gone deep within you, your sadhana will continue until the end.

Verse 5: remembering God at death

Verse 5 answers Arjuna’s last question. Whoever leaves the body remembering Me at the time of death attains My being. “There’s no doubt about this.” Swamiji compresses the instruction into three words. “Sādhana until death.” But there are several points to understand first. For most people, the mind has developed a trick. “Anything bitter or terrible, mind just goes on forgetting it.” “Death is viewed by the mind as something terrible.” In the cosmic plan it is otherwise. Swamiji quotes Gita 2.22: just as people throw off old clothes to put on new ones at a special holiday. “Throwing off old clothes is not a terrible thing.” “It’s something rich to rejoice. A festivity is coming.” “Can human heart come to that level?” Kabir dramatizes it in his songs as a bride going to meet her bridegroom, the veils about to open. For devotees who have attained the goal of life, “Death is not viewed as a tragedy.” “As long as you view it as tragedy, you are going to suffer from that tragedy.”

The thoughtful and the fearful

The masses push death out of the mind. Thoughtful people know they must prepare for it, but then a new problem appears. “When you try to remember death, everything gets spoiled.” “Because the mind has developed the concept that death is inauspicious.” That defective memory has to be corrected. The first step is to recognize that deep down you are not affected by death. “You are the eternal soul.” “Death is only a change of your clothes.” “The baby has to get into a bathtub and mother has to force the baby.” However tragic it seems, it is profoundly enriching. Otherwise, he says, imagine the predicament if death were delayed and the body went on giving up on you. “On one side, you are 125.” “From toes to the head, not a single part moves.” That would be the real tragedy. So a healthy understanding of death must develop and be kept in view day by day. “Death relates only to the layers of illusion.” “Soul is ever free” Do not postpone what is truly important. “There’s a many a slip between cup and a lip.”

Parikshit’s seven days

The Bhagavata Purana elaborates the point through King Parikshit, who comes to know that he will die in seven days. Instead of sinking in grief, he hears the entire Bhagavata. “Day by day he soaks himself in immense joyous revelation about God.” “And his passing away was extremely joyous.” That is the idea the scriptures present. “Live your life in such a way as if you are going to die the next day.” Not in dread, but ever ready, joyously, for new coats and new neckties. Swamiji admits he is joking, then states the point. “Death should not be a source of fear to your mind.” In God’s hand, death is a powerful tool to lead the soul to enlightenment. When the fear of death is quelled even within your lifetime, “That’s called liberation.” If that fear has moved away, then even at the time of death you attain the goal.

Verse 6: the last thought

Another point follows. At the time of death a churning process occurs in relation to all the karmas you have done, positive and negative. “At the time of death a resultant is formed.” That resultant harmonizes with the whole story of karmas lying in the unconscious from many lives. “Your next embodiment is not just dependent on karmas of this life.” Led by the Divine law, the resultant creates a thought process in the mind that shows what the future is going to be. “The unconscious has already created the calculations.” Whether a person passes away in deep sleep or in a hurricane or an earthquake, “Still, it is the last thought that leads the soul to the next embodiment.” So the message is how to prepare your thoughts day by day. “Start preparing yourself to understand you are not the body.” “You are not the mind, you are not the senses. You are not the ego.” “If you are not these, why should you be afraid of death?” When this is understood, there is an “Explosion of joy within your mind.” and the actual end of the body will not mean anything. For the masses, whatever resultant karma has formed becomes the last thought. “Led by the last thought, every soul moves to another embodiment.” Verse 6 says it directly: whatever being a person thinks of at the moment of death, absorbed in that thought, “That being does he attain.” The karma formed at death becomes the prarabdha karma of the next body. It is like sleep: led by karma you enter a dream, and however you look in it, you are comfortable with yourself. “So countless dreams you have left aside.” “And countless dreams you will get into.” “Until you attain liberation.” Therefore, in the worship of Shiva, “Water drips drop by drop on Śiva’s śivalinga.” It is a lesson for the mind. “Same way your mind should be continuously flowing drop by drop, not too much.”

Verses 7 and 8: the yoga of abhyasa

Verse 7 tells Arjuna to remember God at all times and fight, with mind and intellect offered to Him. Verse 8 gives the means: taking recourse to the yoga of abhyasa, with a mind that is not distracted, developing one-pointedness and constantly dwelling upon Him, one attains the effulgent Self, the Supreme Purusha. “Abhyas, a repeated effort.” Swamiji calls this the whole secret of God-realization, and reads it through Patanjali’s definition: practice becomes firmly grounded when followed for a long time, without interruption, and with reverence. The first is dirgha kala, a long time. Do not put a time limit on it. No one says, I will eat until fifty and then stop. “Eating and nourishment is enjoyable day by day. So why there should be a time?” “Mind should just go on moving towards this without time limit.” The second is nairantarya, without a break. You do lots of japa one day, drop it for weeks, then resolve to double it next time. “The mind is playing the part of a fox.” Instead, begin in a measured manner, so the practices become rhythmic and relaxing, even when progress seems small.

The bird and the ocean

For that, Swamiji says, remember the story of the bird whose egg was taken by the ocean. In its little head it develops the resolve to empty the ocean. Day by day it dips a blade of grass in the water, hops out and shakes it. “That’s what Sadhana does, that’s all we would be doing. Drop by drop.” Counted mathematically, emptying the karmas of many lives is impossible. But then you join satsanga and the mind turns toward God. In the story the bird receives guidance from Narada, who teaches it to meditate on Garuda. “Garuḍa is that mystic bird for whom the entire ocean becomes a little mud puddle.” So as the mind, along with sadhana, enters into surrender to God and begins to receive Divine grace, a power develops that cannot be imagined. “And therefore, nothing is impossible.”

Reverence and a divine sleep

Swamiji then repeats Patanjali’s definition and adds the third element, satkara, reverence. “Do not build up a negative mind.” You are doing your japa and the mind says: you have done this for a long time, what did you receive? That is like criticizing food while eating it, which harms the digestion. “Try to bring in a sense of reverence, sacredness, holiness, love of God.” “You are invoking God through your mantras.” Shut out your worries during practice; you will not lose them. Learn the lesson from sleep. “When you sleep, you shut them all out.” and you wake refreshed. “Get into a Divine sleep while doing sādhana.” “Wake up spiritually recharged” “And that becomes a big mantra for spiritual success.”

Terms in this lecture

Akshara — the imperishable; the supreme Brahman
kshara — all that perishes
anitya — impermanent
loka — a plane of experience: of the senses, of sentiment, or of the intellect
yantra — a mystic diagram expressing a spiritual truth
svasti — the good and auspicious; the root of swastika
Ishvara — God, who arises from Brahman and controls the world
jiva — the individual soul
adhyatma — Brahman in the stage of willing to become many; saguna Brahman
Maya Shakti — the dynamic power of God
kriya shakti — the energy of action, at the navel center, presided over by Durga
iccha shakti — the energy of feeling and will, at the heart center, presided over by Lakshmi
jnana shakti — the energy of knowledge, at the ajna chakra, presided over by Sarasvati
shubha vasanas — auspicious impressions in the mind
adhibhuta — the perishable nature; the soul identified with the body
adhidaiva — the soul developing divine qualities
adhiyajna — the soul purified by spiritual discipline
prarabdha karma — the group of karmas that shapes the coming embodiment
abhyasa — repeated spiritual practice
dirgha kala — practice sustained for a long time
nairantarya — practice without interruption
satkara — reverence in practice
satsanga — the company of truth and of those devoted to it

Questions for reflection

When you think of your own death, does the image of a change of clothes for a festival feel true, and what in you resists it?
What thought would your mind return to if it had no time to choose one?
Which of your practices runs on a long time and without a break, and which runs on bursts of resolve?

Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 8, Akshara-Brahma Yoga, verses 3 to 8, with Chapter 2, verse 22. Lecture 86 by Swami Jyotirmayananda, Yoga Research Foundation. Swamiji’s recorded lectures are free to watch on his YouTube channel.

This study guide is drawn from the archived teachings of Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda.