Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 8, Verse 6: Krishna to Arjuna — Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga

Bhāṣyakāra purports

• Śaṅkaraadvaita

  Whatever bhāva (state of being) one holds in mind at the moment of prāṇa-viyoga (dissolution of breath), that very bhāva one attains — not another. Śaṅkara's key move: tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ means the object has been rehearsed (abhyasta) through continuous smṛti (remembrance), so the ante-kāla impression is determined long before death. The verse is therefore a warning: without jñāna-niṣṭhā (abidance in knowledge), even at death the mind grasps a devatā-viśeṣa (particular deity-form) and is bound to that bhāva — liberation requires dissolving the bhāva itself into nirguṇa Brahman.

  divergence: Śaṅkara: 'taṃ tam eva smṛtaṃ bhāvam eva eti nānyam ... tad-bhāvaḥ sa bhāvitaḥ smaryamāṇatayā abhyastaḥ yena saḥ' — the participle abhyasta confirms habitual conditioning, not a last-moment act.

• Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

  At ante-kāla (the final moment), the bhāva that arises is not a free act of will but the surfacing of whatever has been pūrva-bhāvita (previously cultivated) — the antyapratyaya (final cognition) is strictly determined by prior sādhana. For Rāmānuja this is an invitation, not a threat: if one has continually meditated on Bhagavān as antaryāmin (inner ruler), that bhāva will naturally rise at death, and the jīva (individual self), ever a viśeṣaṇa (qualifying attribute) of Brahman, attains the Bhagavat-svarūpa (the Lord's own nature). The verse underscores why upāsanā must be uninterrupted kainkarya (service-offering) through every act.

  divergence: Rāmānuja: 'antyapratyayaśca pūrvabhāvitaviṣaya eva jāyate' — the final perception is generated exclusively from the previously cultivated object.

• Madhvadvaita

  Madhva addresses an apparent contradiction: the verse says 'remembering, one departs' — how can smṛti (memory) and tyāga (relinquishing) be simultaneous? The answer is that ante (at the end) specifies a proximate window, not a single instant; Śruti confirms this (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.4.2: the ātman exits through the illumined tip of the heart). Bhāva is defined precisely as antargataṃ manaḥ (the inward-turned mind), and bhāvita-tva is atī-vāsanā (deep impregnation). The jīva (individual soul), eternally distinct from Hari, carries the vāsanā-stamp of whatever deity it has worshipped; Hari alone can grant mukti (liberation) — all other bhāvas bind.

  divergence: Madhva: 'bhāvo'ntargataṃ manaḥ ... bhāvitattvaṃ ativāsitattvaṃ' — bhāva is the inward mind; bhāvita-tva is extreme impregnation, distinguishing Madhva's technical reading from looser glosses.

• Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

  The verse is not a general cosmological law for Vallabha — it is a corrective: it is NOT the case that only remembrance of Kṛṣṇa leads to Kṛṣṇa. Whatever form one has made one's own (sva-viṣaya-jātīyākāratva, the capacity to take the shape of one's chosen object), that svarūpa (essential form) one becomes — as Bharata became a deer. The implication for Puṣṭi-mārga is urgent: unless Kṛṣṇa's prasāda (grace) has saturated the jīva so thoroughly that no other bhāva can arise, the devotee risks a sub-divine rebirth. True puṣṭi-bhakti makes Kṛṣṇa's form the only available form of the mind at death.

  divergence: Vallabha: 'sva-viṣaya-jātīyākāratva-sampādakaṃ bhāvaṃ svarūpam eti bharatavat' — the Bharata-example anchors the verse in the purāṇic case of bhāva-mismatch leading to animal birth.

• Śrīdharabhakti

  Śrīdhara reads the verse as a universal mechanism that simultaneously elevates bhakti's logic: whatever devata (deity) or object one remembers at ante-kāla (the final moment), that one attains — not exclusively Kṛṣṇa. The causal connector is sadā (always): constant bhāvanā (contemplative cultivation) produces the vāsita-citta (impregnated mind) whose final thought is guaranteed. Śrīdhara keeps the bhakti application central — smaran Kṛṣṇam, one attains Kṛṣṇa — but does not suppress the generality, preserving the verse's pedagogical breadth for multiple audiences.

  divergence: Śrīdhara: 'sarvadā tasya bhāvo bhāvanānucintanaṃ tena bhāvito vāsitacittaḥ' — sadā is explicitly glossed as sarvadā; bhāvita = vāsita-citta.

• Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

  Madhusūdana's synthesis is visible in the verse's framing: this verse corrects the implied exclusivism ('only remembrance of Me leads to Me') by showing the mechanism is universal — whatever is smaryamāṇa (being remembered) at prāṇa-viyoga (dissolution of breath) is attained, and the causality runs through pūrvābhyāsa-janitā-vāsanā (the vāsanā born of prior practice), not ante-kāla willpower. The address 'Kaunteya' is glossed as a mark of snehātiśaya (excess of affection), signaling that Kṛṣṇa reveals this hard truth precisely because Arjuna is dear. The Advaita strand: even bhagavat-prāpti is a bhāva that must be dissolved in nirguṇa realization; the bhakti strand: begin with Kṛṣṇa-smṛti so that at least this bhāva, superior to all, is the final impression.

  divergence: Madhusūdana: 'ante-kāle smaraṇodyamāsambhave'pi pūrvābhyāsajanitā vāsanaiva smṛtihetuḥ' — the key synthesis: volition at death is impossible; only vāsanā acts as smṛti-cause.