Attaining the Supreme

Theme and purpose

Attaining the Supreme: Whoever remembers Kṛṣṇa at the time of death attains Him. Jñānīs and yogīs attain liberation by path of light and karmī comes back to this world. But a bhakta quits this material world full of miseries and attain Kṛṣṇa's spiritual abode by pure bhakti.

How this chapter connects

Sections and key teachings

1. 8.1–4 Lord Kṛṣṇa answers Arjuna’s questions
2. 8.5–8 Remembering Kṛṣṇa at the time of death
3. 8.9–13 Remembering Kṛṣṇa by Yoga-miśra-bhakti
   1 subsections

   • 8.9 Different ways of remembering Kṛṣṇa – kaviṁ, purāṇam and so on. 10-13 The process and results of Ṣaṭ-cakra-yoga.
4. 8.14–16 Remembering Kṛṣṇa by pure bhakti
5. 8.17–22 Material world Vs. Spiritual world
   2 subsections

   • 8.17–19 Material world and the conditioned living entities manifest at the beginning of Brahmā’s day and unmanifest as the night falls.
   • 8.20–22 One attains Kṛṣṇa’a abode, the eternal and indsutructible spiritual world, by ananya-bhakti and never returns to this world.
6. 8.23–28 Supremacy of pure bhakti in attaining Kṛṣṇa
   2 subsections

   • 8.23–26 A yogī or jñānī who leaves body by the path of light attains liberation. A karmī who leaves body by the path of darkness returns back to this world.
   • 8.27–28 A devotee of Kṛṣṇa (bhakti-yogī) attains Kṛṣṇa’s supreme abode and never returns back.

All verses

8.1–4

• 8.1
• 8.2
• 8.3
• 8.4

8.5–8

• 8.5
• 8.6
• 8.7
• 8.8

8.9–13

• 8.9
• 8.10
• 8.11
• 8.12
• 8.13

8.14–16

• 8.14
• 8.15
• 8.16

8.17–22

• 8.17
• 8.18
• 8.19
• 8.20
• 8.21
• 8.22

8.23–28

• 8.23
• 8.24
• 8.25
• 8.26
• 8.27
• 8.28