Home · Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 8: Akshara Brahma Yoga · Verse 23-26

Akshara Brahma Yoga · The Imperishable Absolute

Bhagavad Gita 8.23-26

Sanskrit

यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः । प्रयाता यान्ति तं कालं वक्ष्यामि भरतर्षभ ॥8.23॥अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् । तत्र प्रयाता गच्छन्ति ब्रह्म ब्रह्मविदो जनाः ॥8.24॥धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम् । तत्र चान्द्रमसं ज्योतिर्योगी प्राप्य निवर्तते ॥8.25॥शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते । एकया यात्यनावृत्तिमन्ययावर्तते पुनः ॥8.26॥

Transliteration

yatra kāle tvanāvṛttimāvṛttiṃ caiva yoginaḥ | prayātā yānti taṃ kālaṃ vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha ‖8.23‖ agnirjyotirahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam | tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahmavido janāḥ ‖8.24‖ dhūmo rātristathā kṛṣṇaḥ ṣaṇmāsā dakṣiṇāyanam | tatra cāndramasaṃ jyotiryogī prāpya nivartate ‖8.25‖ śuklakṛṣṇe gatī hyete jagataḥ śāśvate mate | ekayā yātyanāvṛttimanyayāvartate punaḥ ‖8.26‖

Meaning

Now I shall declare to you, O best of Bharatas, the times in which yogis departing return, and depart never to return. Fire, light, daytime, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern course, departing then, the knowers of Brahman go to Brahman. Smoke, night, the dark fortnight, the six months of the southern course, there the yogi, attaining the lunar light, returns. These two paths of the world, the bright and the dark, are deemed eternal; by one, one goes never to return; by the other, one returns again.

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Theme: The Imperishable Absolute

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