अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन । प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोऽसि नियतात्मभिः ॥
adhiyajñaḥ kathaṃ ko'tra dehe'sminmadhusūdana | prayāṇakāle ca kathaṃ jñeyo'si niyatātmabhiḥ ||
Translation
Who is adhiyajna and how does it exist in this body, O Madhusudana? And how, at the time of death, are you to be known by the self-controlled?
Interpretation
Arjuna continues with the final two questions: Who or what is adhiyajna (the principle governing sacrifice) and how does it operate within the body? And the most practically urgent question: how is the Divine to be known at the moment of death — that crucial threshold? This last question is central to the entire chapter, which is sometimes called the 'Yoga of the Last Moment.' The quality of one's consciousness at death determines the nature of one's next existence.