For Eternal Beginners
अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन् मुक्त्वा कलेवरम् ।
यः प्रयाति स मद्भावम् याति नास्ति अत्र सम्शयः ॥ ५ ॥
antakAle ca mAmeva smaran muktvA kalevaram |
yaH prayAti sa madbhAvam yAti nAsti atra samzayaH || 5 ||
च [ca] Finally, अन्तकाले [antakAle] at the end of life, यः [yaH] the one who प्रयाति [prayAti] passes away मामेव स्मरन् [mAmeva smaran] while thinking about Me alone मुक्त्वा कलेवरम् [muktvA kalevaram] will give up his body and सः मद्भावम् याति [saH madbhAvam yAti] attain My state of existence. नास्ति सम्शयः [nAsti samzayaH] There is no doubt अत्र [atra] in this matter.
Those who think of the Lord while leaving their body will attain the Lord.
This too, applies to each of the three types of worshippers . At the end of a life-time, the person who gives up his body and passes away while thinking exclusively of Me, will attain My status. Here, the phrase ‘My status’ refers to the nature of the Lord. At the end of a life-time, a person achieves the form that he focuses on. For instance, as illustrated in the scriptures, a person who thought about a deer at the time of death is born in the body of a deer.
The next Shloka describes this very fact unambiguously - the nature of the final thought is such that the thinker is re-born in the same form as the thought.