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Last Thought Determines Next Birth

The last thought of a man governs his future destiny. The last thought of a man
determines his future birth. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita, “Whosoever at the end
abandoneth the body, thinking upon any being, to that being only he goeth, O Kaunteya, because
of his constant thought of that being” (Chapter: VIII-6).
Ajamila lost his pious conduct, and led a detestable living. He fell into evil depth of sinful
habits and resorted to theft and robbery. He became a slave of a public woman. He became the
father of ten children, the last of whom was called Narayana.
When he was about to die, he was absorbed in the thoughts of his last son. Three fearful
messengers of Death advanced towards Ajamila. Ajamila cried aloud in great distress the last
son’s name ‘Narayana’.
On a mere mention of the name of ‘Narayana’ the attendants of Lord Hari came speedily
along and obstructed the messengers of Death. They took him to Vaikuntha or the world of
Vishnu.
The soul of Sisupala entered the supreme Lord with an effulgent spark of ineffable glory 

magnificence. This vile Sisupala spent his lifetime in reviling Lord Krishna and then he
entered the Lord.
The worm on the wall when stung by the wasp changes into the form of the latter.
Similarly, the man who focuses his hate on Lord Krishna gets rid of his sins and reaches that
Lord by regular devotion as the Gopis did by Kama (passion), Kamsa by fear, Sisupala by hatred
and Narada by love.

Lord Krishna says in the Gita, “Whoever constantly thinks of Me intensely and with onepointed
mind, to such steadfast Yogin, I am easily attainable; and having thus reached Me and
merged in Me, he is not born again in the fleeting world of woe and misery. O Arjuna! While all
the worlds created by Brahma are limited by time and have their moment of dissolution on
reaching Me, there is no rebirth, therefore at all times, meditate on Me, the supreme Vaasudeva
and with mind and intellect fixed on Me. Doubtless, you will attain Me” (Chapter: VIII-14, 15,
16).
The constant practice of fixing the mind on the Lord, although a man is engaged in
worldly pursuits, will enable him to intuitively and automatically think of the Lord, even at the
time of his departure. The Lord says: “With the mind thus engaged in the Yoga of constant
practice, not deflected by any other obstacles, one attains the supreme Purusha of resplendent
glory.”
The Lord further says, “At the time of death, he who thinks of My real Being as the
supreme Lord Sri Krishna or Narayana, leaves the body and verily reaches My Being. Doubt this
not! In whatever form a man thinks of Me at the time of death, that form he attains, that form
again being the result of nourishing that thought in a particular groove and by constant
meditation of the same.”
The Lord further says: “He who further establishes his mind on Me, even at the time of
forthgoing and who is in that Divine state of renouncing everything and of dwelling in Brahman
or Brahmic state, is free from delusion” (B.G. II-72).
He who has a strong habit of using snuff in his life imitates the act of snuffing with his
fingers when he is in an unconscious state just before his death. So strong is the habit of snuffing
in this man.
The last thought of a licentious man will be the thought of his woman. The last thought of
an inveterate drunkard will be that of his peg of liquor. The last thought of a greedy moneylender
will be that of his money. The last thought of a fighting soldier will be that of shooting his
enemy. The last thought of a mother who is intensely attached to her only son will be that of her
son only.
Raja Bharata nursed a deer out of mercy and became attached to it. His last thought was
the thought of that deer. Hence he had to take the birth of a deer, but he had memory of his last
birth as he was an advanced soul.
The last thought of a person will be the thought of God only, if that person has disciplined
his mind all throughout his life and has tried to fix it on the Lord through constant practice. It
cannot come by a practice in a day or two, in a week or a month. It is a life-long endeavour and
struggle.

The last thought determines the next birth. The last prominent thought of one’s life
occupies the mind at the time of death. The predominant idea at the time of death is what in
normal life has occupied his attention most. The last thought determines the nature of character
of the body to be attained next. As a man thinketh, so shall he become.