A core teaching · reflective in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“The end follows the state you have trained.”
Whatever state a person remembers at the end, that state is reached, because the mind has been shaped by it.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallywhatever · also indeed · remembering · state of being · abandons · at the end · the body · that very · attains · O son of Kunti · always · formed by that state
The final thought at death shapes where consciousness goes next. A person tends toward whatever state has been cultivated again and again.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Akshara Brahma Yoga" (The Imperishable Absolute).
Verse 6 sits in Chapter 8 of the Bhagavad Gita — Akshara Brahma Yoga, "The Imperishable Absolute". The chapter has 28 verses in total.
A woman who spent forty years worrying about money still asks about the electricity bill from her hospital bed. Krishna's point is that the last thought grows from the thoughts of a lifetime.
Did you like this verse?
Whatever a person dwells on at the end, Krishna says, they reach, because life has shaped the mind that way.
What this verse means
The final thought at death shapes where consciousness goes next. A person tends toward whatever state has been cultivated again and again.
Context & commentary
Krishna deepens the teaching on the final moment: the state of mind at death is the result of a life repeatedly formed by habit and attention.
What it looks like today
A woman who spent forty years worrying about money still asks about the electricity bill from her hospital bed. Krishna's point is that the last thought grows from the thoughts of a lifetime.
“What you repeatedly dwell on becomes the shape of your ending.”
Explore related themes: manas (49 verses)