Verse 8.21

अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम् ।

यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ॥

8.21

Transliteration

avyakto'kṣara ityuktastamāhuḥ paramāṃ gatim |

yaṃ prāpya na nivartante taddhāma paramaṃ mama ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

What is called the Unmanifested and the Imperishable, That they say is the highest goal. They who reach It do not return (to this Samsara). That is My highest abode (place or state).

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

the unmanifest
imperishable
thus
is called
that
they call
the supreme
goal

which
having reached
not
return
that
abode
supreme
my

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

This eternal unmanifest is called the Imperishable (akṣara), and it is declared to be the highest goal. Those who reach it do not return. Krishna calls it his supreme abode, dhāman. The verse joins the language of the impersonal, the unmanifest and the Imperishable, with the personal language of Krishna's own dwelling. Traditions interpret this joining differently, some seeing a transcendent realm of the Lord and others the formless ground of being, but all agree that it lies beyond return.