Post #705

At several places in his commentary (8:5,6,7 and 8:14,26,27), Acharya Abhinavagupta gives a lengthy elaboration on the characteristics of “the last moment”, i.e., the moment when the departing soul is leaving the body. At the outset, Acharya Abhinavagupta points out that whatever object one had meditated on (throughout one’s life), that very object he attains at the time of leaving his body. However, a significant de­ parture from most of the other commentators is that, according to Acharya Abhinavagupta, it is not necessary for one to remember his (de­ sired object) at the very last moment of leaving his body. For ex­ ample, a yogin who has meditated on God throughout his life at­ tains the highest reality whether he remembers God, at the last moment, or not.