Chapter 8, Verse 2
अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन | प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोऽसि नियतात्मभिः ||८-२||
adhiyajñaḥ kathaṃ ko.atra dehe.asminmadhusūdana . prayāṇakāle ca kathaṃ jñeyo.asi niyatātmabhiḥ ||8-2||
Meaning
8.2 Who and how is Adhiyajna here in this body, O destroyer of Madhu (Krishna)? And how at the time of death, art Thou to be known by the self-controlled?
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Arjuna continues his questioning, narrowing in on two of the most intimate concerns of spiritual life. First, who is the adhiyajna — the indwelling Lord of sacrifice present within this very body? And second, how can the self-controlled keep the Divine in mind at the moment of death, when body and faculties are dissolving?
The phrase prayana-kale — 'at the time of departure' — sets the great theme of this chapter. Arjuna senses that the final moment of life carries decisive weight, and he wants to know how a disciplined soul (niyatatma) can hold steady remembrance then. By addressing Krishna as Madhusudana, the slayer of demons, he appeals to the Lord's power to destroy the inner enemies of fear and forgetfulness. These two questions — the Divine within and remembrance at death — frame everything that follows.
💡 Key Takeaway
How we meet the final moment is shaped by how we live now, so cultivate steady remembrance of the Divine within today.
Related Verses
अर्जुन उवाच | किं तद् ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम | अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तमधिदैवं किमुच्यते ||८-१||
arjuna uvāca . kiṃ tad brahma kimadhyātmaṃ kiṃ karma puruṣottama . adhibhūtaṃ ca kiṃ proktamadhidaivaṃ kimucyate ||8-1||
Swami Sivananda did not comment on this sloka
अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम् | अधियज्ञोऽहमेवात्र देहे देहभृतां वर ||८-४||
adhibhūtaṃ kṣaro bhāvaḥ puruṣaścādhidaivatam . adhiyajño.ahamevātra dehe dehabhṛtāṃ vara ||8-4||
8.4 Adhibhuta (knowledge of the elements) pertains to My perishable Nature and the Purusha or the Soul is the Adhidaiva; I alone am the Adhiyajna here in this body, O best among the embodied (men).
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.