Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.
Speaking: Chapter 8, Verse 6
Verse 6
The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman
Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.
Context & Meaning
The principle is universal: the mind takes its final, strongest impression and carries it forward into the next existence. Whatever absorbs the consciousness most completely throughout life will naturally arise at death. You become what you most deeply are — what you have most consistently thought about.
Scholar Commentaries
2 commentaries · Public domainAdi Shankaracharya
AdvaitaSaṃskāra — the accumulated impressions of a lifetime — surfaces at the moment of death. The mind, like water, flows in the channels dug by habitual thought. What we cultivate in life shapes what we carry at its end.
Ramanujacharya
VishishtadvaitaThis is both a law and a call to urgency. If we wish to reach the Divine, we must begin now, so that by the time of death the devotional impression is the deepest groove in the mind.