8.6
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
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) continues. 8.5 was about remembering him. This verse is the rule underneath that claim.
The verse
Whatever being he remembers when he leaves the body at the end, to that very being he goes, son of Kuntī (कुन्ती), always shaped into that being.
नेपालीमा
अन्त्यमा शरीर छोड्दा जुन भाव सम्झन्छ, त्यही भावमा ऊ जान्छ, हे कुन्तीपुत्र, सधैँ त्यही भावमा ढालिएर।
Where it sits
8.5 said: leave remembering me, and you come to my being. 8.6 gives the general law that makes 8.5 true. The last remembrance is where he goes, because he has been shaped by it. The next verse will turn the law into an order: therefore remember me at all times, and fight.
Split: यम् + यम् + वा + अपि + स्मरन् + भावम् + त्यजति + अन्ते + कलेवरम् + तम् + तम् + एव + एति + कौन्तेय + सदा + तद्-भाव-भावितः
yam + yam + vā + api + smaran + bhāvam + tyajati + ante + kalevaram + tam + tam + eva + eti + kaunteya + sadā + tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| यम् | yam | accusative | which. |
| यम् | yam | accusative | which. Said twice: whichever. |
| वा | vā | indeclinable | or. |
| अपि | api | indeclinable | even. |
| स्मरन् | smaran | present participle, nominative | remembering. |
| भावम् | bhāvam | accusative | a being, a state. |
| त्यजति | tyajati | present, 3rd singular | he leaves. From tyaj (त्यज्). |
| अन्ते | ante | locative | at the end. |
| कलेवरम् | kalevaram | accusative | the body. |
| तम् | tam | accusative | that. |
| तम् | tam | accusative | that. Said twice: that very one. |
| एव | eva | indeclinable | just. |
| एति | eti | present, 3rd singular of i (इ) | he goes. |
| कौन्तेय | kaunteya | vocative | son of Kuntī (कुन्ती). |
| सदा | sadā | indeclinable | always. |
| तद्-भाव-भावितः | tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ | nominative | shaped into that being. bhāvita (भावित) is the causative participle of bhū (भू), "made to be." |
The phrases
yaṃ yaṃ vā api bhāvam smaran (यं यं वा अपि भावम् स्मरन्) is the open object. Remembering whatever being, this one or that one. The double yam (यम्) is the "whichever." vā api (वा अपि) widens it. Nothing is excluded.
tyajati ante kalevaram (त्यजति अन्ते कलेवरम्) is the same leaving as 8.5, with a finite verb this time. He leaves the body at the end. ante (अन्ते) is the anta (अन्त) of antakāla (अन्तकाल), in the locative by itself.
तं तम् एव एति taṃ tam eva eti is the rule. To that very being he goes. The double tam (तम्) answers the double yam (यम्). sadā tadbhāvabhāvitaḥ (सदा तद्भावभावितः) says why it is not an accident of the last minute. He has been made of that being all along.
Sanskrit in this line
yam yam (यम् यम्) and tam tam (तम् तम्) are a relative pair said twice. The double relative means "whichever." The double correlative means "that very one." Do not translate one of them and drop the other as emphasis you can skip. The repetition is the grammar.
एव + एति eva + eti is recited evaiti (एवैति). अ + ए a + e becomes ai (ऐ). You have heard that since paśyaitām (पश्यैताम्) in 1.3.
Say it back
Whatever he remembers, to that he goes. If the double yam (यम्) becomes one polite "what," or if tadbhāvabhāvitaḥ (तद्भावभावितः) is left out so the last second does all the work, stay here.