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Complete learning edition. The Sanskrit source remains separate from attributed word meanings, translation, explanation and commentary witnesses. Diagrams and memory aids are study tools, not replacements for the source text.

BG 8.13

ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन्। यः प्रयाति त्यजन्देहं स याति परमां गतिम्।।8.13।।

oṁ ityekākṣharaṁ brahma vyāharan mām anusmaran yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ sa yāti paramāṁ gatim

Verse translation

one who leaves the body while uttering Om, the single syllable of Brahman, and remembering Me, reaches the supreme destination.

English rendering by Dharma Open School. Original school translation.

The person at the centre for BG 8.13The teaching gathers around Krishna as source and guide. This composition is unique to BG 8.13 and uses the verse's key terms.1om2yaḥ3gatimBG 8.13
The person at the centreThe teaching gathers around Krishna as source and guide
Word by word

Build the sentence from its parts

Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.

15word links
Sanskrit formMeaning here
omsacred syllable representing the formless aspect of God
itithus
eka-akṣharamone syllabled
brahmathe Absolute Truth
vyāharanchanting
māmme (Shree Krishna)
anusmaranremembering
yaḥwho
prayātideparts
tyajanquitting
dehamthe body
saḥhe
yātiattains
paramāmthe supreme
gatimgoal
Explanation and elucidation

Read the Sanskrit as a connected thought built from om (sacred syllable representing the formless...), yaḥ (who), and gatim (goal). Ask what changes between the first and last term, and how that movement contributes to remembrance that shapes one's destination. State the connection in your own words, then check it against Bhagavad-gita 8.13.

Original school explanation. Written independently from the Sanskrit word map. It is not a quotation, translation, or summary of a named modern commentary. Chapter lens: Track Arjuna’s questions and Kṛṣṇa’s answers about Brahman, action, remembrance, destination and cosmic time.

Gaudiya study and reading shelf

Five careful reading routes

Rights-aware references

The cards below are reading references, not claims about what an acharya says in this verse. Modern wording stays inside authorized editions. Classical commentary will appear only after an independent translation has passed scholarly and rights review.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Bhagavad-gita As It Is
Modern protected edition

For Bhagavad-gita 8.13, consult the authorized BBT edition. No purport, translation, or author-attributed summary is reproduced here.

Find the authorized edition

Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Rasika-ranjana
Classical original-language work

A verified independent rendering for Bhagavad-gita 8.13 has not yet passed scholarly and rights review. Modern translations are not copied here.

Independent rendering pending review

Baladeva Vidyabhushana

Gita-bhushana-bhashya
Public-domain Sanskrit original

The original work is classical. A newly commissioned or independently prepared translation for Bhagavad-gita 8.13 must be verified before publication.

Independent translation pending review

Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura

Sarartha-varshini-tika
Public-domain Sanskrit original

The original work is classical. A newly commissioned or independently prepared translation for Bhagavad-gita 8.13 must be verified before publication.

Independent translation pending review

Other Gaudiya acharyas

Authorized Gaudiya editions
Mixed rights status

For Bhagavad-gita 8.13, later teachers remain a further-reading route. Their wording and distinctive teaching structures require permission or a separate rights review.

Use an authorized edition
Diagram

Meaning map

Flow chart

Follow the thought

  1. 1

    one who leaves the body while uttering Om, the single syllable of Brahman

  2. 2

    remembering Me, reaches the supreme destination

  3. 3

    om: sacred syllable representing the formless aspect of God

The person at the centre for BG 8.13The teaching gathers around Krishna as source and guide. This composition is unique to BG 8.13 and uses the verse's key terms.1om2yaḥ3gatimBG 8.13
The person at the centreThe teaching gathers around Krishna as source and guide
Easy way to remember

Look, link, cover, teach

1

Look

Picture remembrance and destination.

2

Link

Use the line starts: oṁ ityekākṣharaṁ / yaḥ prayāti.

3

Cover

Hide the verse and rebuild one line at a time.

4

Teach

Explain the flow to another person without looking.

Notice

Circle repeated sounds, names, or grammatical endings before consulting a meaning.

Attempt

Read one line aloud, cover it, and reconstruct as much as you can from memory.

Verify

Compare with a checked edition and record the source before adding any translation.

Complete source-study lessonAutosaves locally

Build meaning without hiding the work

Track Arjuna’s questions and Kṛṣṇa’s answers about Brahman, action, remembrance, destination and cosmic time.

Observation before explanation

Mark forms you want to investigate

These are visual tokens, not a reviewed sandhi split. Select repeated forms, endings, compounds, particles or speaker markers; verify segmentation with the Sanskrit tools or a checked edition.

Chapter inquiry

Three questions for this verse

  1. 1

    Which technical term is being defined?

  2. 2

    What moment or destination is in view?

  3. 3

    What practice connects them?

Transfer task

Write the verse into a question–answer glossary with its context.

Learner rendering

Attempt before comparison

Correction and teach-back

Make revision visible

Assessment: read aloud, explain the verse’s role in its chapter, identify one source boundary, answer one question and schedule a return.

Keep what you learned

Turn this reading into a study record

Save it, return from memory, and write one idea in your own words. Your record stays in this browser unless you export it.

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The learning rhythm

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  1. 01Encounter
  2. 02Recall
  3. 03Apply
  4. 04Discuss
  5. 05Teach
  6. 06Return
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