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In the eighth chapter, Shri Krishna describes various significant concepts that are explained in detail in Upanishads. He reveals the mystery behind which form the Soul would choose after death or which body the Soul will get after its lifetime. He also says that one who reminisces God at the time of his death attains him. Krishna says that remembering God while doing our everyday duties is important.
A person can also chant his name during meditation. This way, when we keep our minds absorbed in him, we rise higher than the materialistic world and find more knowledge about the Supreme. Shri Krishna then talks about various materialistic abodes; he talks about how each Soul gets absorbed into him, and still, he remains untouched by this cycle of creation and destruction. Those who get the light of spirituality and attain God in their lifetime never return to the cycle of birth and death. Souls who blindly follow the material path always dwell in darkness and never get rid of this cycle.
Arjun said: O Supreme Lord, what is Brahman (Absolute Reality), what is a soul, and Karma? He further asks Krishna that how can one who is a steadfast mind evoke the Lord at the time of death?
The Lord said: The Supreme Entity who is untouched by destruction is called Brahman. One’s self is called Soul, and the actions that one performs in the lifetime are called Karma.
Those who surrender themselves to me even at the time of their death come to me.
Whatever one remembers at the time of their death becomes that. The state of mind at the time of death decides what the person will become.
Therefore, remember Me while doing your duties. Surrender yourself to me, and you will attain me.
A mind who constantly reveres me without conflict or doubt definitely gets enlightened by the knowledge to know me.
God is the most ancient one, he is the knower of all things, and he is one divine form. He is brighter than Sun, and no amount of darkness can withstand him. One who, at the time of death, fixes his Prana between the eyebrows and remembers me definitely comes to my abode. This is possible with the practice of Yog.
The researchers of Vedas describe God as Imperishable. Those who practice the vow of celibacy sacrifice all worldly desires to enter him. I will now briefly tell you the path to attain the goal.
To get the yogic concertation, one must restrict all the gates of the body, fix the mind in the heart regions, and draw the life breath to the head.
This way, when one departs from this world while remembering me, finds me on the other side, which is the Supreme Goal of the Soul.
Those who attend me are no more subjects to rebirth; they are free from worldly miseries, and they attain the most peaceful and happiest environment forever.
Even if you attain the abode of Brahma, you will get rebirth in the world. However, if you attain my abode, there is no rebirth.
O son of Kunti, the wise ones know that one day of Brahma lasts a thousand cycles of the four ages, and the night also has the same time span. This is the real duration of the day and night in the Universe.
When Brahma’s day arrives, this is when all living beings manifest and when the night comes, they all merge into the Universe again.
These living beings repeatedly take births in the day of Brahma and get absorbed into him during the night span. Separate to this, there is another unmanifest eternal dimension, and by entering that, there is no rebirth.
This eternal dimension is the Supreme goal of a soul, and that is My supreme Abode.
The Supreme Divine Personality is the greatest of all; he is the one most powerful and penetrating through all. All living beings are situated in him, but to achieve him, one has to go through a great devotion.
I shall now explain to you the different ways to depart from this world. O best of the Bharatas, these are ways of departing, one of which leads to liberation and the other leads to rebirth.
Those who depart from this world during the six months of the Sun’s northern course, the bright fortnight of the moon, and the bright part of the day, attain the supreme. However, those who depart during the six months of the Sun’s southern course, the dark fortnight of the moon, the time of smoke, the night, attain the celestial abodes. Thus those who give their Soul during the light get liberation else rebirth.
Yogis always know this secret, and with the power of Yog, they can give their Souls during the light duration of the world and attain liberation.
These yogis attain excellence far beyond any Vedic ritual, sacrifices, or austerities. Such yogis attain the abode of the Supreme.