📿 Shloka Collection

Adhiyajnah Katham

Gita 8.2 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 8 — Akshara Brahma Yoga
अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन ।
प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोऽसि नियतात्मभिः ॥
Adhiyajnah katham ko'tra dehe'smin madhusudana,
Prayanakale cha katham jneyo'si niyatatmabhih.
अधियज्ञः
the presiding deity of sacrifice
कथम्
how
कः
who
अत्र
here
देहे अस्मिन्
in this body
मधुसूदन
O Madhusudana (Krishna)
प्रयाणकाले
at the time of death
ज्ञेयः असि
can You be known
नियतात्मभिः
by the self-disciplined

Arjuna continues with two more questions. First: who is the adhiyajna, and how does this being reside within the body? Second: at the moment of death, how can a disciplined person know You?

The second question reaches deep into every devotee's heart. When life's final moment arrives, how does one hold on to God? It is the kind of question that surfaces during quiet, reflective hours — the same question a student might ask before a great examination: what is the one thing I must remember?

Arjuna is asking about life's greatest crossing — death itself. And he asks not out of fear, but out of a genuine desire to be prepared.

This shloka completes Arjuna's seven questions, which began in 8.1. Krishna answers all of them systematically from 8.3 onward. The question about knowing God at the time of death becomes the central theme of this entire chapter, explored in detail from 8.5 through 8.13.

Chapter 8 · 2 / 28
Chapter 8 · 2 / 28 Next →