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Chapter 8 · Attaining the Supreme · 28 verses

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Liberation & destinyChapter 8 · Attaining the Supreme
8.208.22

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 8.21

Mortality, cosmic cycles and eternal destination

अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहु: परमां गतिम् ।

यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ॥ २१ ॥

avyakto ’kṣara ity uktas

tam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim

yaṁ prāpya na nivartante

tad dhāma paramaṁ mama

Translation

That which the Vedāntists describe as unmanifest and infallible, that which is known as the supreme destination, that place from which, having attained it, one never returns – that is My supreme abode.

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.

Kṛṣṇa’s Supreme Abode

  1. 1Kṛṣṇa’s supreme abode is the highest destination. Those who reach it never return to the material world.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that this abode is Goloka Vṛndāvana, where all desires are fulfilled and the Lord is served.
  3. 3Kṛṣṇa and His supreme abode are nondifferent: both have the same spiritual quality.

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.

Key ideas: mokṣa, dhāma.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 8.21 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 8.16Mortality, cosmic cycles and eternal destinationBG 8.17Mortality, 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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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.