A Dying Person’s Last Thoughts Determine the Condition of his Soul After Death

The following article has been excerpted from the essay: Reflections on the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Atulananda of the Ramakrishna Mission. His essay appeared in the Prabuddha Bharata Magazine in November 2003.

Whatever object one remembers while leaving the body, that alone is reached by him.
– Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita (Shloka 8.6)

A dying person’s last thoughts, determine the future state of his soul after death. There is a story in the Mahabharata which illustrates this fact.

There was in India a great king named Bharata. Following the injunctions of the Shastras, when he grew old he renounced the world, leaving his kingdom to be ruled by his son.

He entered the Himalayan forest and there far from his palace, wealth and former enjoyments, he built himself a little hut on the banks of a river. He collected and prepared his own food. There he spent his days communing with God, who is the Spirit present in the forest, in the trees, in the river and in the soul of man.

One day while he was meditating on the riverbank a deer came to drink water. As the deer was drinking, a lion in search of prey roared a little distance off. So frightened became the deer that she made a big jump to clear the river. The deer was with young, and this extreme exertion and sudden fright made her give birth to a little fawn, and immediately after she fell dead. The little fawn fell in the water and was being carried off by the stream.

The king, who had been roused from his meditation by the roar of the lion, saw what happened and in the kindness of his heart he rescued the fawn from what would have been certain death. He preserved its life. The fawn grew up and became very much attached to the king, who also felt great attachment for the deer.

Last Thoughts at the Time of Death Are Critical in Determining Next Birth

The more the king became attached to the deer, the less he could concentrate his mind on God. He was always thinking of the well-being of the deer anxious that no mishap should overtake it. Some years passed and then the king’s end approached. When he was about to die, instead of turning towards God his mind was occupied with the deer.

He felt great anxiety as to how it would be able to find food and how it would be protected from wild animals after he was gone. And with his mind burdened with these thoughts and giving one last look at his beloved deer, the king passed away. And as a result the king was born as a deer in his next birth. This story depicts that our last thoughts are very important.

To Think of God at the Time of Death, We Must Focus on Him While Living

On what do our last thoughts depend? Our last thoughts depend on our previous thoughts. What we have been thinking all our life, what we have been occupied with all our life, our desires, our ambitions — these determine our last moments. Our last moments will be full of thoughts we are familiar with throughout our life.

Only such thoughts arise in us spontaneously as they have been the most prominent during our lifetime. We cannot get rid of them during our last moments. The mind follows the path of least resistance. As in a dream or during high fever the mind runs its own course, quite beyond our control, so when weak and suffering during our last hours, we will not be able to change the lifelong tendency of the mind.

Through the life of every one of us run as it were our theme, our ambition, our hope, our aspiration and our ruling passion. And on and around that our entire life is woven. All our endeavors, all our actions are but variations of the main theme. There is this one basic note and all our efforts can be traced back to this fundamental strain. It is with this theme playing in our ears that we shall depart.

Where our thoughts are, there we shall have to go. We are always following our thoughts and the time of death will be no exception; just as the king constantly occupied in his thoughts with the deer, became a deer in his next life. It was for this reason that Sri Krishna told to Arjuna: “At all times, think of Me and fight. With mind and intellect absorbed in Me, you will doubtless come to Me (after death).”

The Prabuddha Bharata is a wonderful magazine containing many such inspiring teachings. If you want to read its issues online for free then do click here.

Last Thoughts Determine Condition of Soul after Death - Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita The Woman Sannyasin Who Courageously Meditated at the Time of Death – The last thoughts of a person determine the condition of their soul after death – How a monk implemented this teaching of the Bhagavad Gita on her deathbed.

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