Bhagavad Gītā: Chapter 8: Text 24
Bhagavad Gītā: Chapter eight: Attaining the Supreme, Text 24
अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः
षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् │
agnirjyotirahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā
uttarāyaṇam
तत्र प्रयाता गच्छन्ति
ब्रह्म ब्रह्मविदो जनाः ││२४││
agnirjyotirahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam
Figure 04: Mystics who are advanced
in yoga practice can arrange the time and place to leave the body. Others have
no control. (8.24 purport)
Vocabulary
agniḥ—fire; jyotiḥ—light; ahaḥ—day;
śuklaḥ—the white fortnight; ṣaṭ-māsāḥ—the six months; uttara-ayaṇam—when
the sun passes on the northern side; tatra—there; prayātāḥ—those
who pass away; gacchanti—go; brahma—to the Absolute; brahma-vidaḥ—who
know the Absolute; janāḥ—persons.
Translate
the following verse into English
Those
who know the Supreme Brahman attain that Supreme by passing away from the world
during the influence of the fiery god, in the light, at an auspicious moment of
the day, during the fortnight of the waxing moon, or during the six months when
the sun travels in the north.
Purport
and Brief out the Moral teachings the following verse
When
fire, light, day, and the fortnight of the moon are mentioned, it is to be
understood that over all of them there are various presiding deities who make
arrangements for the passage of the soul. At the time of death, the mind
carries one on the path to a new life. If one leaves the body at the time
designated above, either accidentally or by arrangement, it is possible for him
to attain the impersonal brahmajyoti. Mystics who are advanced in yoga
practice can arrange the time and place to leave the body. Others have no
control—if by accident they leave at an auspicious moment, then they will not
return to the cycle of birth and death, but otherwise, there is every possibility that they will have to return. However, for the pure devotee in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, there is no fear of returning, whether he leaves the body at
an auspicious or inauspicious moment, by accident or arrangement.
Bibliography
Elizarenkova, Tatyana J. Language and Style of the Vedic Rsis. New York: State University of New
York Press, 1995.
Lochtefeld, James. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 2. New York: The Rosen
Publishing Group, Inc., 2002.
Macdonell, Arthur A. A Sanskrit Grammar for Students. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1927.
Monier-Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1923.
Müller, Friedrich Max. A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. London: Williams and Norgate, 1860.
Prabhupāda, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami. Bhagavad Gītā as it is. California: The Bhaktivedanta Book
Trust, 2017.
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