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8.21 The destination named Krishna speaks

अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम्
यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम

avyakto ’kṣhara ityuktas tam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim
yaṁ prāpya na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama

That unmanifest and imperishable is called the highest destination. Having reached it, one does not return. It is my own abode.

Explanation

The answer to Arjuna's question, finally named.

That imperishable unmanifest is paramā gati, the highest destination — and reaching it, one does not return.

Then the register shifts in the last three words: it is my own abode. The impersonal absolute of 8.20 and the person Arjuna is standing next to are stated as the same thing, without argument and with no attempt to reconcile them. The Gita's habit is to set the two side by side and leave them there.

Word by word

avyaktaḥ
unmanifest
akṣharaḥ
imperishable
iti
thus
uktaḥ
is said
tam
that
āhuḥ
is called
paramām
the supreme
gatim
destination
yam
which
prāpya
having reached
na
never
nivartante
come back
tat
that
dhāma
abode
paramam
the supreme
mama
my