Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8, Verse 23

Chapter 8 – Akshara Brahma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः ।
प्रयाता यान्ति तं कालं वक्ष्यामि भरतर्षभ ॥

Transliteration

yatra kāle tvanāvṛttimāvṛttiṃ caiva yoginaḥ .
prayātā yānti taṃ kālaṃ vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha ॥

Meaning

O best of the Bharatas, I shall tell you the time (path) in which yogis who depart attain non-return, and also that in which they return.

Word meanings

यत्र काले – in which time (path)
तु – indeed
अनावृत्तिम् – non-return
आवृत्तिम् च एव – and also return
योगिनः – yogis
प्रयाताः – having departed
यान्ति – attain
तम् कालम् – that time
वक्ष्यामि – I shall tell
भरतर्षभ – O best of the Bharatas

Anvaya (word order)

भरतर्षभ, यत्र काले प्रयाताः योगिनः अनावृत्तिम् आवृत्तिं च एव यान्ति, तं कालं वक्ष्यामि ।

Explanation

At the start of the chapter Arjuna asked how yogis know the Lord at the time of death. The Lord answered with remembrance, Om and devotion. Now he takes up another side of the same question: by which path does the soul go after leaving the body, and where does it arrive? This verse is the introduction to that new topic.

Two things are clear here. First, there are two kinds of destination: anavritti (non-return) and avritti (return). Second, the Lord is going to explain them through kala, time. According to Shankara, kala here does not mean mere clock time but the presiding deities and the path of that time, since the following verses name fire, light, day, the bright fortnight and the northern course of the sun, which are the divine markers of the devayana and pitriyana paths of the Upanishads. Ramanuja takes it in the sense of path.

This topic may seem difficult to a present-day reader, but its root message is simple: life's journey does not end with this birth, there is a movement beyond it, and that movement depends on our action and worship. In the next verses both paths, the path of light and the path of darkness, will be made clear.

Addressing Arjuna as Bharatarshabha, best of the Bharatas, also suggests that this knowledge is fit for him and needed by him.

Context

Verse 8.22 gave exclusive devotion as the means to the Supreme Person. From here to 8.26 the two paths after leaving the body, bright and dark, are described, based on the devayana and pitriyana of the Upanishads.

Life lesson

Life is not understood to be limited to this birth. Live consciously, reflecting that today's actions, thoughts and worship set the direction of the future.

Key terms

अनावृत्ति: non-return to birth and death, liberation
आवृत्ति: return to rebirth
काल: here, the time or path presided over by deities
भरतर्षभ: best of the Bharatas, Arjuna