यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम् ।तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावितः ॥
yaṃ yaṃ vāpi smaran bhāvaṃ tyajaty ante kalevaram | taṃ tam evaiti kaunteya sadā tadbhāvabhāvitaḥ ||
- यम् यम् · yaṃ yam
- whatever
- वापि · vāpi
- also, indeed
- स्मरन् · smaran
- remembering
- भावम् · bhāvam
- state of being
- त्यजति · tyajati
- abandons
- अन्ते · ante
- at the end
- कलेवरम् · kalevaram
- the body
- तम् तम् · tam tam
- that very (state)
- एति · eti
- attains
- तद्भावभावितः · tadbhāvabhāvitaḥ
- absorbed in that state, steeped in it
“Whatever state of being one remembers when leaving the body at the end, that very state one reaches, O Kaunteya, steeped as one always is in it.”
— Original plain-language translation
The principle is generalized beyond devotion: the mind goes where it has habitually dwelt. Death does not invent a new character; it harvests the old one. Hence the urgency of training attention long before the end.
— Reader's notes (original)