Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15, Verse 6

Chapter 15 – Purushottama Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः ।
यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ॥

Transliteration

na tadbhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ .
yadgatvā na nivartante taddhāma paramaṃ mama ॥

Meaning

Neither the sun, nor the moon, nor fire illumines that. Having gone there, none return. That is My supreme abode.

Word meanings

न – not
तत् – that
भासयते – illumines
सूर्यः – the sun
शशाङ्कः – the moon
पावकः – fire
यत् – which
गत्वा – having reached
निवर्तन्ते – return
धाम – abode, state, light
परमम् – supreme
मम – My

Anvaya (word order)

तत् सूर्यः न भासयते, न शशाङ्कः, न पावकः । यत् गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते, तत् मम परमम् धाम ।

Explanation

Krishna now describes the imperishable state mentioned in the previous verse. Everything in the world is seen by some light: by the sun in the day, the moon at night, and fire in darkness. But that supreme abode is lit by none of these. This does not mean it is dark; it means it is self-luminous. What illumines light itself needs no other lamp.

The verse echoes the Upanishads. The Katha (2.2.15) and Mundaka (2.2.10) declare that there the sun does not shine, nor the moon and stars, nor lightning, still less this fire; when That shines, everything shines after it, and by its light all this is lit. A few verses later (15.12) Krishna will say that the radiance in the sun, the moon and fire is his own.

‘Having gone there, none return’ repeats the promise of 8.21 and sets this abode apart from every heaven, from which one must come back once merit is spent. ‘That is My supreme abode’ shows that the goal is not some neutral place but the Lord’s own nature.

Shankara explains dhama as the light or very nature of Vishnu, the supreme state that is pure consciousness and one with the Self. Ramanuja understands it as the pure, luminous knowledge-nature of the liberated self, which belongs to the Lord, and also as pointing to the Lord’s divine abode. Madhva identifies it with Vaikuntha, the supreme realm that is inseparable from the Lord. For all three it is the destination from which there is no return to any branch of the world-tree.

Context

Verse 5 described those who reach the imperishable state; this verse describes the state itself. From the next verse Krishna turns to the nature of the individual soul, which is his own eternal fragment.

Life lesson

The truth we seek is not seen by borrowed light but by its own. Every light in the world eventually fades, but the light of consciousness never does. Moving toward it is the one achievement that cannot be lost.

Key terms

Parama dhama: the Lord’s supreme abode or nature
Svayam-prakasha: self-luminous, needing no other light
Anivartana: non-return to samsara, liberation