अथ यत्रैतदबलिमानं नीतो भवति तमभित आसीना आहुर्जानासि मां जानासि मामिति स यावदस्माच्छरीरादनुत्क्रान्तो भवति तावज्जानाति ॥ ८.६.४ ॥
atha yatraitadabalimānaṃ nīto bhavati tamabhita āsīnā āhurjānāsi māṃ jānāsi māmiti sa yāvadasmāccharīrādanutkrānto bhavati tāvajjānāti || 8.6.4 ||
4. Then when a person becomes weak, his relations sit around him and keep asking: ‘Do you know me? Do you know me?’ As long as he has not left the body, he is able to recognize them.
Word-for-word explanation:
Atha, then; yatra, when; etat, a person; abalimānam, weakness; nītaḥ bhavati, is reduced to; tam abhitaḥ, around him; āsīnāḥ, those sitting; āhaḥ, say; jānāsi mām jānāsi mām iti, do you know me, do you know me; saḥ, he; yāvat, as long as; asmāt śarīrāt, from this body; anutkrāntaḥ bhavati, does not leave; tāvat jānāti, that long he knows [them].
Commentary:
When a person is dying, he is surrounded by his relatives and friends, and they keep asking him: ‘Do you know me? Do you recognize us?’ As long as there is life left in his body he can recognize them. But when he has left the body, he cannot answer, because the body cannot speak without him.