Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 8, Verse 13
ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन् । यः प्रयाति त्यजन्देहं स याति परमां गतिम्
omityekākṣaraṃ brahma vyāharanmāmanusmaran | yaḥ prayāti tyajandehaṃ sa yāti paramāṃ gatim
Translation
Uttering Brahman, the one-syllabled 'Oṃ,' thinking of Me, whoso departs, leaving the body, he reaches the Supreme Goal.
— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri
Word meanings
- om
- Aum
- iti
- thus
- ekākṣaram
- one syllabled
- brahma
- Brahman
- vyāharan
- reciting
- mām
- me
- anusmaran
- remembering
- yaḥ
- who
- prayāti
- goes forth
- tyajan
- abandoning
- deham
- the body
- saḥ
- he
- yāti
- goes
- paramām
- (to the highest)
- gatim
- to the path (goal)
Śaṅkarācārya's commentary
He utters the syllable 'Oṃ,' the appellation of the Brahman, and meditates on Me. "Leaving the body" shows the mode of departure. The departure takes place by the Self leaving the body, not by the Self being destroyed.