Bhagavad Gita 8.21 अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम्

Bhagavad Gita 8.21 — word by word

Explanation

That unmanifest is called the Imperishable; it is declared to be the supreme goal. Those who reach it never return. That is my highest abode. Reaching it, the soul's long journey through birth and death comes to an end. Krishna calls it his own.

Krishna names the eternal unmanifest of 8.20 as the Akshara, the Imperishable that gives the chapter its title, and calls it his supreme dhama, abode or state. Shankara reads dhama as Vishnu's highest state, which is Brahman itself. Ramanuja and other Vaishnava teachers understand it as the Lord's eternal realm (Vaikuntha or Paramapada), where liberated souls dwell with him; Gaudiya Vaishnavas speak of Goloka. The same phrase, tad dhama paramam mama, recurs in 15.6, where Krishna adds that neither sun nor moon nor fire lights it.

भावार्थ

वह अव्यक्त अक्षर कहा गया है, उसी को परम गति कहते हैं। जिसे प्राप्त होकर फिर लौटना नहीं पड़ता, वही मेरा परम धाम है। वहाँ पहुँचकर जन्म-मृत्यु की यात्रा समाप्त हो जाती है।

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