(From the discourses of Pujya Sri Swamiji)

Compiled by Swami Datta Pada Renu

In the beginning of the eighth chapter, Sri Krishna describes the various aspects of the one Supreme Godhead by way of answering the six questions of Arjuna.

Akshara is the Supreme Impersonal Godhead or the Supreme Brahman. His dwelling in all individual bodies as the divine spirit is his inherent nature (Svabhava). This aspect of the Lord s called Adhyatma because it pertains to the Self in relation to the body. The offering in all the Vedic sacrifices is called Karma. It includes all virtuous works done without any selfish motive. The perishable adjunct or the whole objective universe is Adhibhuta. Adhidaivata is the Cosmic Soul (Hiranyagarbha), whose rays are the individual souls. Adhiyajna is the presiding deity of sacrifice. The Lord Himself is the Adhiyajna in all bodies.

Thus the Lord declares in these verses that all bodies and all objects in the world are divine as the Lord Himself dwells in them in His different aspects. The seventh question put by Arjuna in the last verse is: "how can a self-controlled man know the Lord at the time of his death?" The Lord answers:
"Whosoever, at the time of death, thinking of Me alone, leaves the body and goes, he attains My being; there is no doubt about this." (5-VIII).

He who thinks of the Lord at the time of death attains the nature of the Lord. There is no doubt about this. But if a man has given his whole life in the thought of his wealth, wife and children or any other material pleasure, then it is difficult for him to think of the Lord at the time of his death. As his mind was engrossed in worldly things only the thoughts pertaining to them will come to his mind at the time of death and not the thought of God. If however he were to meditate on the Lord all the time, he would remember the Lord even at the hour of his death. Whatever he constantly thinks or meditates on, of that thought he becomes possessed and that same he attains. It is this very rule that is enunciated in the next verse.

"Remembering whatever being one leaves the body at the end, that very being one reaches, O Arjuna, constantly imbued with the thought of that being."

Whatever a man thinks deeply in his mind throughout his life, that thought gets ingrained in his nature. He cannot get rid of it at any cost. It becomes inseparable from him even at the time of his death. This final thought decides the character of the body to attained by him in his next life. This is the basic philosophy of rebirth or reincarnations.

Our destiny is not decided or governed by a supernatural power. God is not responsible for the happiness or misery that we experience in our life. If we make God responsible for our misfortune, then we make God arbitrary and cruel. An all-merciful God cannot shower miseries on us. Our happiness and our miseries are the results of our own thought and actions. They are not forced upon us by God. If we think good and do good, we get happiness. If we think of wicked things and do wicked actions we get miseries in return. This in short is the law of Karma.
Therefore, whatever we think throughout our life as the dearest of our objective that we shall get and that we shall experience. And if we entertain that thought of God constantly throughout our life, then certainly we will be able to think of Him at the time of our death. That final thought of God will enable us to contact Him and reach Him.

Therefore no one should think that he could live an unholy life all through and achieve Godhood by thinking of God at the last moment. It is quite impossible to do so. One becomes what one thinks. This is the law. We should always remember this inevitable law because we are the makers of our own future. If a man ever thinks of his wealth and relations he will ever remain earth-bound and suffer. If he forgets his human side and thinks of the divinity dwelling in him, he becomes divine and attains the Supreme Godhead. Therefore one should always meditate on God, the divine spirit within him, that is, his own self. He should practice it throughout his life so that the thought of God remains uppermost in his mind at the time of his death.

As such, the Lord says that remembering whatever object a man leaves his body at the end, that alone is reached by him because of his constant thought of that object or being absorbed in the thought of that object (sadaa tadbhaava bhaavitah)