Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 24 (BG 8.24)

عِش الغيتا

Preparing your translation...

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते

You have the right to act...

Preparing your translation...

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते

You have the right to act...

الرئيسية

الرئيسية حكمة المناهج مجتمع المحفوظات الإعدادات

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 24 — Meaning & Commentary | Live Gita

← 8.23

BG 8.24 Sign in to save

8.25→

अग्निर्जोतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् |
तत्र प्रयाता गच्छन्ति ब्रह्म ब्रह्मविदो जनाः ||८-२४||

agnirjotirahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam . tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahmavido janāḥ ||8-24||

Fire, light daytime, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern path of the sun (the northern solstice) departing then (by these) men who know Brahman go to Brahman.

In simple words

Krishna describes the path of no return: "Those who know Brahman and depart during the period of fire, light, daytime, the bright half of the month, and the six months when the sun travels north — they go to Brahman and do not come back."

Word-by-word meanings

अग्निःfireज्योतिःlightअहःdayशुक्लःthe bright fortnightषण्मासाःsix monthsउत्तरायणम्the northern path of the sunतत्रthereप्रयाताःdepartedगच्छन्तिgoब्रह्मto Brahmanब्रह्मविदःknowers of Brahmanजनाःpeople

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

Swami Sivananda

8.24 अग्निः fire? ज्योतिः light? अहः day? शुक्लः the bright fortnight? षण्मासाः six months? उत्तरायणम् the northern path of the sun? तत्र there? प्रयाताः departed? गच्छन्ति go? ब्रह्म to Brahman? ब्रह्मविदः knowers of Brahman? जनाः people.Commentary This is the UttaraMarga or Devayana? the northern path or the path of light? by which the Yogis go to Brahman. This path leads to salvation. It takes the devotee to Brahmaloka. The six months of the northern solstice is from the middle of January to the middle of July. It is regarded as the better period for death. There is a vivid description in the Chhandogya Upanishad? the Kaushitaki Upanishad and the Brahma Sutras? chapter IV.3 and 4? ii. 18 and 21.On the road beginning with light (the departed soul proceeds)? on account of that being widely known.Having reached the path of the gods he comes to the world of Agni (fire)? to the world of Vayu (air)? to the world of Varuna (rain)? to the world of Indra (king of the gods)? to the world of Prajapati (the Creator)? to the world of Brahman.They go to the light? from the light to day? from day to the waxing half of the moon? from the waxing half of the moon to the six months when the sun goes to the north? from those months to the year? from the year to the sun.When the person goes away from this world he comes to Vayu (air). Then Vayu room for him like the hole of a wheel and through it he mounts higher. He comes to the sun.From the moon to the lightning there a person that is not human leads him to Brahman.Time is here used in the sense of the path or the stage on the path. Fire and light are the deities who preside over time. Daytime is the deity who presides over the day. The bright fortnight is the deity presiding over it. The six months of the northern solstice are the deity who presides over the northern path.This is the path of illumination that leads to liberation.The lifreaths of the liberated sages who have attained knowledge of the Self do not depart. They are absorbed in Brahman. The Jivanmuktas who attain KaivalyaMoksha or immediate,salvation or liberation have no place to go to or return from. They become one with the allpervading Brahman.Each step may mean a plane or a state of consciousness or the degree of purity or illumination. The more the purity the more the divine light. There are bright objects throughout the course of the path. There is illumination or knowledge when one passes along this path. Hence it is called the path of light.After Bhishma was mortally wounded? he lay on the bed of arrows till the onset of the northern solstice and then departed from here to the Abode of the Lord.

Swami Chinmayananda

This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

Your reflection

to save your reflections on each verse.

Want to explore this verse deeper?

← 8.23 8.25→

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

Swami Sivananda

Swami Chinmayananda

# BG 8.24 — The Path of Gradual Liberation This verse illuminates the path of gradual liberation (kramamukti). Those practitioners who perform together the works prescribed by the Vedas and worship—that is, who practice both simultaneously—and likewise those seekers of Brahman who have not yet attained direct experience of Brahman in their present life are eligible for this gradual liberation. According to the Upanishads, such practitioners, after abandoning the body, enter Brahmaloka (the realm of Brahma, the Creator) by way of the Devayana (the path of the celestials). There they experience the bliss of divine and transcendent realms until the end of the cosmic cycle, and at the time of dissolution they attain complete liberation along with Brahma. Here, Lord Sri Krishna indicates the Devayana using the language employed in the Upanishads. For those who seek the knowledge of truth as expounded by the sages, this verse holds special significance from the perspective of spiritual understanding. Fire, light, day, the bright fortnight, and the six months of the northward journey of the sun—all these indicate the Devayana, which is presided over by the sun. In the Prashna Upanishad, in describing the creation and origin from the supreme truth, these paths are clearly explained. There the Teacher reveals that the Creator Prajapati himself became the sun and the moon. The sun and moon visible in the sky are respectively symbols of conscious and inert principles. The worshipper of truth who establishes unity with the conscious principle and lives life accordingly naturally remembers and contemplates the object of worship (the ideal) even at the time of death, just as one has worshipped throughout life. It is inevitable that such a worshipper attains the realm of the object of worship, for a person becomes according to the nature of their thoughts. When one contemplates throughout one's entire life only creative, divine, and progressive thoughts, one will certainly advance upon the path of evolution upon abandoning the present body. This path is indicated by the terms fire, light, day, and so forth. Thus, in the distinctive language of the Upanishads, the path of liberation for worshippers of Brahman is called Uttarayan (the northward journey). In this word Uttarayan, which the sages frequently employ to describe gradual liberation, all the above meanings are contained. In contrast to this path, the Lord describes the opposite path—the one by attaining which one must return again to the world—as follows:

This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 24 (BG 8.24) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

Commentaries

Your reflection

Your reflection

Commentaries