Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 23 (BG 8.23) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

There are two goals that human beings strive to attain in their lives: abhyudaya and nihshreyasa. Abhyudaya means the attainment of happiness through the enjoyment of ever-increasing material pleasures by way of worldly wealth and physical advancement. This is truly but an illusion of happiness, for within the womb of every enjoyment lies hidden suffering. Nihshreyasa means liberation from bondage to the non-self. In this, the human being attains knowledge of one's true nature as the atman, which is the substratum of the entire universe. In this direct experience of one's true nature, the individual soul ceases to exist as a separate entity, and supreme bliss is attained. These two goals are of opposite natures. Enjoyment is transient while liberation is eternal. In one there is the cycle of return to the world; in the other, there is no return. In abhyudaya, the sense of individual existence persists, whereas in knowledge, the sense of the atman becomes firmly established. The person who has realized the atman experiences unbroken bliss as their true nature. If the goals are different from one another, then the paths to attain them must also be different. Lord Sri Krishna here gives his word to Arjuna, the foremost of the Bharatas, that he shall describe those two paths—the path of return and the path of no return. Here the word "kala" (time) is used with a double meaning. Kala refers to the time of departure from the body, and in this present context, it also means the path by which seekers, after abandoning the body, reach their respective goals. Now he describes the first path—the path of no return—