Chapter 8, Verse 15
मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् | नाप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः ||८-१५||
māmupetya punarjanma duḥkhālayamaśāśvatam . nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṃsiddhiṃ paramāṃ gatāḥ ||8-15||
Meaning
8.15 Having attained Me these great souls do not again take birth (here) which is the place of pain and is non-eternal: they have reached the highest perfection (liberation).
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna now describes the fruit of that constant remembrance. The great souls (mahatmanah) who attain him do not return to rebirth, which he characterizes vividly as duhkhalayam ashashvatam — 'the abode of sorrow and impermanence.' Having reached the highest perfection (samsiddhim paramam), they are free.
The phrase 'abode of sorrow and impermanence' is a clear-eyed assessment of worldly existence. The cycle of birth and death, however filled with fleeting pleasures, is ultimately marked by suffering and instability — nothing here lasts. This is not pessimism but realism, meant to loosen our grip on what cannot satisfy. The liberated souls have not merely escaped pain; they have reached supreme fulfillment by attaining the Lord himself. Krishna sets before Arjuna the highest possibility for human life: to transcend the restless wheel of becoming and rest forever in the imperishable.
💡 Key Takeaway
Worldly life, for all its pleasures, is fleeting and tinged with sorrow; the soul's true freedom lies beyond the wheel of rebirth.
Related Verses
अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम् | यः प्रयाति स मद्भावं याति नास्त्यत्र संशयः ||८-५||
antakāle ca māmeva smaranmuktvā kalevaram . yaḥ prayāti sa madbhāvaṃ yāti nāstyatra saṃśayaḥ ||8-5||
8.5 And whosoever, leaving the body, goes forth remembering Me alone, at the time of death, he attains My Being: there is no doubt about this.
यदक्षरं वेदविदो वदन्ति विशन्ति यद्यतयो वीतरागाः | यदिच्छन्तो ब्रह्मचर्यं चरन्ति तत्ते पदं संग्रहेण प्रवक्ष्ये ||८-११||
yadakṣaraṃ vedavido vadanti viśanti yadyatayo vītarāgāḥ . yadicchanto brahmacaryaṃ caranti tatte padaṃ saṃgraheṇa pravakṣye ||8-11||
8.11 That which is declared Imperishable by those who know the Vedas, that which the self-controlled (ascetics or Sannyasins) and passion-free enter, that desiring which celibacy is practised that goal I will declare to thee in brief.
ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन् | यः प्रयाति त्यजन्देहं स याति परमां गतिम् ||८-१३||
omityekākṣaraṃ brahma vyāharanmāmanusmaran . yaḥ prayāti tyajandehaṃ sa yāti paramāṃ gatim ||8-13||
8.13 Uttering the one-syllabled Om the Brahman and remembering Me, he who departs, leaving the body, attains to the Supreme Goal.