ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन् | यः प्रयाति त्यजन्देहं स याति परमां गतिम् ||१३||
om ity ekākṣaraṃ brahma vyāharan mām anusmaran | yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṃ sa yāti paramāṃ gatim || 13 ||
Uttering OM — the single syllable of Brahman — departing while meditating on Me, one reaches the highest goal.
Word by word (3)
- om iti ekākṣaraṃ brahma vyāharan / mām anusmaran
- — Uttering OM — the single syllable of Brahman — remembering Me · om = OM (the primordial syllable — considered the sound-form of Brahman in the Upaniṣadic tradition; from √av = to protect, to sound; or from √ut = to be + √ma = to measure; OM = A + U + M = the three states of consciousness — waking, dream, deep sleep — and the silence beyond). iti = thus (quotative particle — 'saying OM thus'). ekākṣaraṃ = the single syllable (eka = one; akṣara = syllable/imperishable — ekākṣara = the one syllable, the single imperishable sound; akṣara here does double duty: 'syllable' AND 'imperishable' — OM is BOTH the syllable-form AND the imperishable Brahman in sound). brahma = Brahman (in apposition with ekākṣaram — this single syllable IS Brahman). vyāharan = uttering, pronouncing (vi + ā + √hṛ = to speak out; vyāharan = present participle — 'while uttering'). mām = Me. anusmaran = remembering continuously (anu + √smṛ = to remember following/continuously — present participle, simultaneous with vyāharan and prayāti). The simultaneous acts: uttering OM + remembering Krishna — the outer sound and the inner orientation occur together.
- yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṃ / sa yāti paramāṃ gatim
- — Whoever departs, leaving the body — that one goes to the supreme destination · yaḥ = whoever (relative pronoun — universal scope, not limited to any category). prayāti = departs (pra + √yā = to go forth — prayāti = goes forth, departs at death). tyajan = leaving, abandoning (present participle from √tyaj = to leave — tyajan = while leaving). dehaṃ = the body. sa = that one (he, she). yāti = goes (√yā). paramāṃ = supreme (adjective — the highest, the ultimate). gatim = destination, goal, course (from √gam = to go — gati = the going, the direction, the destination reached by going). paramāṃ gatim = the supreme destination — not just 'a good place' but the highest possible attainment. This 'supreme destination' is different from the limited destinations of other worshippers (V23's devaloka, V25's rebirth) — it is the definitive final liberation. V13 is the completion of the V11-V13 arc: V11 announced the goal; V12 gave the body preparation; V13 gives the final act (OM + Krishna-remembrance) and confirms the supreme destination.
- OM as ekākṣaraṃ brahma — the syllable that IS the Imperishable
- — OM is not a symbolic sound 'representing' Brahman — it IS Brahman in sound-form; uttering it IS uttering Brahman · The identification of OM with Brahman (om iti ekākṣaraṃ brahma) is one of the Upaniṣads' most fundamental teachings. Chāndogya Upaniṣad 1.1.1: 'udgītha — this akṣara (OM) is all this.' Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad 1: 'om ity etad akṣaram idaṃ sarvam — om, this syllable/imperishable, is all this.' The Gita's V8 of this chapter (brahmaṇi OM) and the current V13 both confirm this. The word 'ekākṣaraṃ brahma' is a compressed mahāvākya — the great saying that contains the whole teaching: Brahman = the Imperishable = the single syllable OM. When the dying yogi utters OM (vyāharan), they are not 'invoking' Brahman as if It were elsewhere — they are sounding the Self, giving voice to what they are. The simultaneous mām anusmaran (remembering Me — Krishna) integrates the jñāna (OM = Brahman = Self) with bhakti (remembering the Divine Person). V13 is the most compact possible statement of the complete path: OM (jñāna/akṣara) + mām anusmaran (bhakti) → paramāṃ gatim (liberation). Three elements, one verse, the whole teaching.
V13 is the completion of V12's body-technique: to the three physical steps (close gates, fix mind in heart, draw prāṇa to crown), V13 adds the vocal/mental act: utter OM (the syllable that IS Brahman) while simultaneously remembering Krishna. The one who departs with this threefold quality — OM on the lips, Krishna in the mind — reaches the supreme destination (paramāṃ gati), not any limited realm but final liberation.
A modern analogy
A musician's final performance expresses everything they have cultivated in a lifetime of music — not just technical skill but emotional depth, understanding, and love for the art. V13's OM + mām anusmaran at death is the 'final performance' of a spiritual life: not a technique being applied for the first time but the natural expression of what has been deeply cultivated. The sound of OM at death is the sound of what the practitioner has become.
What it does NOT mean
V13's OM is not a magical spell that guarantees liberation if muttered at death regardless of life's preparation. The vyāharan (uttering) and anusmaran (continuously remembering) of V13 are expressions of a quality of consciousness — they work because the abhyāsa-yoga of V8 and the devotion of V7 have made them the natural expression of the dying person's being, not because of the sound itself.
Take with you
- V13's daily practice: chant OM at the start and end of meditation as both preparation for V13's death-moment AND as a daily affirmation that the Imperishable (ekākṣaraṃ brahma) is the ground of practice. This is not superstition but the cultivation of the OM-Brahman equation in consciousness.
- V13's two-element formula (OM + mām anusmaran) represents the complete integration of jñāna (knowledge of Brahman as OM) and bhakti (love-remembrance of Krishna). The Gita does not ask practitioners to choose between knowing Brahman as the impersonal Absolute and remembering Krishna as the personal Divine — V13 holds both simultaneously in the dying moment.
- V13's paramāṃ gatim (supreme destination) vs. V23's lesser destinations: later in Ch.8, Krishna will describe paths that lead to rebirth even in exalted realms (V20-V25). V13's paramāṃ gatim is beyond all these — it is final liberation, the cessation of the cycle of rebirth and death. This stakes the highest possible claim for the OM + mām anusmaran practice.
V13 is one of the most compressed and complete verses in the entire Gita. In three acts (OM + mām anusmaran + depart), it summarizes the whole of the prayāṇa-kāle teaching (V5-V13) and the whole of the Gita's integration of jñāna and bhakti. The identification 'om ity ekākṣaraṃ brahma' (OM — this is the single syllable that is Brahman) is the Gita's most direct echo of the Upaniṣadic mahāvākya tradition. Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad opens: 'om ity etad akṣaram idaṃ sarvam' — OM is the syllable (akṣara) and the Imperishable (akṣara); all this is OM. By making OM the final utterance of the dying yogi, the Gita says: let your last word be the word that IS the Imperishable ground. Not a word about Brahman but Brahman Itself in sound-form. The simultaneous mām anusmaran (remembering Me) adds the personal devotional dimension. The dying yogi does not choose between OM-as-Brahman and Krishna-as-Person — V13 holds both. This integration is the Gita's distinctive position: not Advaita alone (OM as abstract Absolute), not bhakti alone (personal remembrance of Krishna), but both — OM as Brahman AND Krishna as the personal form of that Brahman, held simultaneously in the final moment. The verb vyāharan (uttering) can be vocalized OM or mentally repeated OM — both traditions have support. Shankaracharya's commentary notes that both outer utterance and inner repetition are valid; the latter is more appropriate when the body's capacity for speech has ceased.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya: om ity ekākṣaraṃ brahma — OM is the 'name' of nirguna Brahman (the unqualified Absolute). Uttering OM at death while maintaining the recognition that OM IS Brahman IS the Self (OM = aham = the Imperishable) achieves the final dissolution of the jīva-sense into the akṣara recognition. The paramāṃ gatim is mokṣa = the recognition of ātman = Brahman that terminates the cycle of rebirth.
Bhakti lens
For bhakti traditions, V13's mām anusmaran (remembering Me — Krishna) is the bhakti teaching's culmination: the Beloved's name and form are the last act of the devoted heart. The devotee who has spent a lifetime in mām anusmaran (the daily 'remember Me' of V7) finds anusmaran natural at death — it is what the heart has been doing all along. OM + Krishna-remembrance = the complete devotional death.
Karma-Yoga lens
V13 is the karma yogi's final offering: OM as the surrender of the whole self (all action, all thought, all being) to Brahman in a single syllable, combined with mām anusmaran as the offering of the last moment of consciousness to the Divine. The karma yogi who has been offering all actions throughout life offers the final action — the act of dying — in the same spirit.
Modern parallels
V13's OM + mām anusmaran at death parallels the hospice care tradition's observation that dying people often become most lucid in their final hours when oriented toward what is most meaningful to them (their deepest relationships, beliefs, spiritual practices). V13 prescribes orienting toward the two most meaningful things possible: OM (the sound of Brahman, the deepest reality) and the Beloved (Krishna, the most intimate relationship). This dual orientation appears to facilitate the 'good death' across cultures.
Practice
V13 completion practice: after the V12 gate-closure practice (close gates, fix in heart, draw prāṇa upward), hold the following sequence: slowly intone OM (feeling its resonance in the whole body-awareness); then simultaneously hold the quality of loving remembrance of the Divine (mām anusmaran) — the Beloved's name or form in the heart. Hold both OM-resonance and remembrance together for several breaths. This is V12-V13 practiced as an integrated session.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
(V8.13 missing from Swarupananda indexed text — covered by Arnold, Telang, Besant, Judge below) [4]
Uttering the single-syllabled Om, the Brahman, meditating on me, he who departeth, leaving the body, goeth to the highest goal. [5]
Meditating on me and repeating the sacred syllable Om — the one imperishable Brahman — who departs thus, leaving the body, will reach the highest path. [6]
And, murmuring OM, the sacred syllable -- Emblem of BRAHM -- dies, meditating Me. [7]
Repeating the single syllable 'Om,' (signifying) the eternal Brahman, and meditating on me, he reaches the highest goal. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Close all nine gates, hold mind in heart, fix prāṇa in the head — the body's yoga posture for final departure.
Who is Adhiyajña in this body, and how are You known at the time of death, O destroyer of Madhu?
OṀ Tat Sat: triple name of Brahman — by which brāhmaṇas, Vedas, and yajñas were ordained in the beginning.
Frequenting solitude, eating lightly, restraining speech-body-mind, always in dhyāna-yoga, fully in vairāgya —
Seeing inaction in action, action in inaction — that one is wise, a yogi, a complete doer of all actions.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.