अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम्।
यः प्रयाति स मद्भावं याति नास्त्यत्र संशयः।।8.5।।
यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम्।
तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावितः।।8.6।।
And at the time of death, anyone who departs, giving up the body while thinking of Me alone, attains My state; there is no doubt about this.
O son of Kunti, thinking of any entity, whichever it may be, one gives up the body at the end; he attains that very one, having been always engrossed in its thought.
Osho’s Commentary
The moment of death is the most significant moment of life. It is the seed for the next life. Whatever is your state of mind in that final moment becomes the blueprint for your future. Krishna says, “He who remembers me alone at the time of death attains to me.” But this remembrance cannot be a last-minute trick. A whole lifetime of greed and anger cannot be erased by chanting a name in the final second. The moment of death is a great revelation; it brings out your most essential reality. The habits of a lifetime, the deepest grooves in your consciousness, will surface. If you have lived a life of desire, you will die desiring. If you have lived a life of anger, you will die in anger. The person who has constantly lived with the remembrance of the divine—not as a mechanical repetition, but as a deep, heartfelt love affair—only he can remember the divine at the moment of death. His whole being has been tuned to that music. For him, death is not a frightening end, but a joyful transition. And this is a scientific law. Whatever is the last thought in your mind as you fall asleep at night will be the first thought to greet you in the morning. Death is just a longer sleep. The last thought of one life becomes the first thought, the very foundation, of the next. Therefore, Krishna says, be mindful of how you live, for that will determine how you die. And how you die will determine your next becoming.