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Chapter 8 · Attaining the Supreme · 28 verses

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Liberation & destinyChapter 8 · Attaining the Supreme
8.158.17

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 8.16

Mortality, cosmic cycles and eternal destination

आब्रह्मभुवनाल्ल‍ोका: पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन ।

मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते ॥ १६ ॥

ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ

punar āvartino ’rjuna

mām upetya tu kaunteya

punar janma na vidyate

Translation

From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

Beyond Birth and Death

  1. 1All material planets are places of misery, with repeated birth and death. Those who reach Kṛṣṇa’s abode never take birth again.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that all yogīs must reach perfection in bhakti-yoga, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to enter Kṛṣṇa’s eternal abode.
  3. 3Cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness rather than seek higher material planets, where birth and death continue.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 8, Attaining the Supreme: mortality, cosmic cycles and eternal destination.

What it teaches

Theme summary

The soul's true destination is eternal.

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Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Rebirth & bondage

Even high material destinations are subject to return.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 8.16 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to liberation & destiny?

Practice

Reflect on what you want to remember at life's end.

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The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 8 ›
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Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 2.22The eternal soul beyond bodily deathBG 13.22Prakṛti, puruṣa and conditioningBG 8.17Mortality, cosmic cycles and eternal destinationBG 8.18Mortality, cosmic cycles and eternal destination

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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Ask about BG 8.16 — get a simple answer linked to related ideas and verses.

Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.