Verse 8.21

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 8.21:

अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्य् उक्तस् तम् आहुः परमां गतिम् ।
यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते१ तद् धाम परमं मम ॥ २१ ॥

avyakto'kṣara ity uktas tam āhuḥ paramāṃ gatim |
yaṃ prāpya na nivartante1 tad dhāma paramaṃ mama || 21 ||

avyaktaḥ–the unmanifest; akṣaraḥ–without birth or beginning, being imperishable; iti–as; uktaḥ–is described; tam–that; āhuḥ–call; paramām–the supreme; gatim–destination; yam–which; prāpya–having attained; na nivartante–they (the living beings) do not return to this material existence; tat–that; dhāma–abode; paramam–supreme; mama–My.

That eternal unmanifest nature is known as the imperishable Truth (akṣara) and it is the supreme destination. Having attained that destination, which is My eternal abode and My eternal nature, the living beings never return to this world of birth and death.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

The word avyakta, mentioned in the previous verse, is being explained in this verse beginning with avyaktaḥ. That which is imperishable, or indestructible, is called akṣara. The Nārāyaṇa Śruti states “eko nārāyaṇa āsīn na brahmā na ca śaṅkaraḥ–in the beginning there was only Śrī Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa; neither Brahmā nor Śiva existed.”

“My supreme abode is eternal. Akṣara-parama-dhāma [from the original Sanskrit commentary] means that My abode is brahma, and it possesses an effulgent form.”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Having described the tem-porary existence of all moving and non-moving beings, Śrī Bhagavān now explains the eternality of the principle, or tattva, of the Supreme Controller. In the present two verses, He explains the Supreme Eternal Personality, who is superior to the unmanifest Hiraṇyagarbha and who is inaccessible to the mind and senses. This unmanifest reality is also called akṣara-brahma; this alone is the supreme destination of the jīvas. Upon attaining that supreme, imperishable abode, there is no possibility of ever again returning to this material world.