8.13 One syllable Krishna speaks

ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन्
यः प्रयाति त्यजन्देहं स याति परमां गतिम्

oṁ ityekākṣharaṁ brahma vyāharan mām anusmaran
yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ sa yāti paramāṁ gatim

uttering the single syllable Om — Brahman — and remembering me, one who departs on leaving the body goes to the highest.

Explanation

One syllable, and one thing remembered.

Om — the single sound identified here with Brahman itself. Together with 8.12 this is the entire technique: the body settled, the senses closed, one sound, one remembrance.

The economy is the point. Everything named as the highest destination is approached by something small enough to describe in two lines, and Krishna does not pad it out.

Word by word

om: sacred syllable representing the formless aspect of God
iti: thus
eka-akṣharam: one syllabled
brahma: the Absolute Truth
vyāharan: chanting
mām: me (Shree Krishna)
anusmaran: remembering
yaḥ: who
prayāti: departs
tyajan: quitting
deham: the body
saḥ: he
yāti: attains
paramām: the supreme
gatim: goal