Bhagavad Gita · 15.6 · The Yoga of the Supreme Divine Personality·6 of 20
न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः।यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ॥
na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śhaśhāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama
Sanskrit recitation
The inverted tree of life · 15.1–15.6 · Teaching
Translation
Neither does the sun illuminate there, nor the moon, nor the fire; having gone there, they do not return; that is My supreme abode.
Meaning
That supreme abode is selfillumined for Brahman is selfluminous. It existed before the sun, the moon and the fire came into existence during creation. It remains even after they dissolve into the Unmanifested during the dissolution of the world.This verse is taken from the Kathopanishad The sun does not shine there, nor do the moon and the stars, nor does this lightning shine and much less this fire. When It shines, everything shines after It, by Its light, all these shine (Chap.II,5.15). The same idea occurs in the Svetasvatara Upanishad (6.14) and the Mundaka Upanishad (II.2.10). The sun, the moon, etc., derive their light from Para Brahman. Nothing else is needed for illuminating the Supreme Being because It is selfluminous.Dhama paramam Supreme abode or superexcellent seat or Para Brahman.Though the sun is endowed with the power of illumining all, it cannot illumine the Supreme Being.यत् धाम वैष्णवं पदं गत्वा प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते यत् च सूर्यादिभिः न भासयते तत् धाम पदं परमं मम विष्णोः।That abode, to which having gone, none returns, and which the sun, moon, stars, lightning and fire do not illumine, is the highest abode of Vishnu.(Cf.VIII.21)
After Swami Sivananda
The inverted tree of life· 15.1–15.6→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 15.1The Blessed Lord said: They (the wise) speak of the indestructible peepul tree, with its roots above and branches below, whose leaves are the meters or hymns; he who knows it is a knower of the Vedas.
- 15.2Its branches spread below and above, nourished by the Gunas; its buds are sense-objects, and its roots stretch forth below in the world of men, originating action.
- 15.3Its form is not perceived here as such, nor its end, origin, foundation, or resting place; having cut asunder this firmly rooted peepul tree with the strong axe of non-attachment.
- 15.4Then, that goal should be sought for, to which, having gone, none returns again. I seek refuge in that Primeval Purusha, from whence streamed forth the ancient activity or energy.
- 15.5Free from pride and delusion, victorious over the evil of attachment, dwelling constantly in the Self, their desires having completely turned away, freed from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, they, the undeluded, reach the eternal goal.
15.6Neither does the sun illuminate there, nor the moon, nor the fire; having gone there, they do not return; that is My supreme abode.
Word-by-word→
- na
- never
- tat
- that
- yat
- where
- mama
- mine
- dhāma
- abode
- gatvā
- having gone
- paramam
- supreme
- sūryaḥ
- the sun
- bhāsayate
- illumine
- nivartante
- they return
- pāvakaḥ
- fire
- śhaśhāṅkaḥ
- the moon
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