Chapter 8 verse 23-26
“I shall now describe to you the different paths of passing away from this world, O best of the Bharatas, one of which leads to liberation and the other leads to rebirth. Those who know the Supreme Brahman, and who depart from this world, during the six months of the sun’s northern course, the bright fortnight of the moon, and the bright part of the day, attain the supreme destination. The practitioners of Vedic rituals, who pass away during the six months of the sun’s southern course, the dark fortnight of the moon, the time of smoke, the night, attain the celestial abodes. After enjoying celestial pleasures, they again return to the earth. These two, bright and dark paths, always exist in this world. The way of light leads to liberation and the way of darkness leads to rebirth.”
Arjuna had at the beginning of chapter 8 asked the Lord how one can be united at the time of death with Him. Krishna had provided the answer to the question of “How” earlier stressing about the surrender and devotion to Him. In these verses, he points to fact that beings who have trod the path of righteousness and constantly attached to the Supreme, leave this earth with lots of blessings in the northern run of the sun- Uttarayana, during the shukla paksha of the moon- which is the 15 days after amavasya and during the day. This is another way of signifying light and fire in nature. Beings that leave earth at other times also reach abodes based on their nityakarma and would just take a longer path to salvation. The key to remember here is not the time as much as the need to be attached to Supreme at all times. That qualification alone can open all doors literally for all mortals. Bhisma is a good example of this condition. He had exhausted his karmas on earth and chose to wait for uttarayana even though that meant lot of physical pain for him, so he doesn’t need to go through another birth.
No comments:
Post a Comment