Bhagavad Gita BG 8.25
Chapter 8, Verse 25 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम् । तत्र चान्द्रमसं ज्योतिर् योगी प्राप्य निवर्तते ॥
dhumo ratris tatha krishnah shan-masa dakshinayanam tatra candramasam jyotir yogi prapya nivartate
Meaning
Smoke, night, the dark fortnight, the six months of the southern path (dakshinayana) — the yogi who reaches the lunar light by these returns.
Understanding
The pitryana or chandra-marga (the path of the ancestors, the dark path). Dhuma (smoke — obscuring, unlike fire's clarity), ratri (night), krishna (the dark/waning fortnight), shan-masa dakshinayana (the six months of the sun's southward journey — dakshinayana, the descending half of the year). Tatra candramasam jyotih prapya (reaching the lunar light — chandra-masa jyotis, the light of the moon). The yogi (one who has done good karma and practice but not yet reached full liberation) — nivartate (returns — comes back to earth). The moon represents the accumulation and spending of merit — the heaven-world is enjoyed, merit is exhausted, and one returns.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| धूमः | dhumah | smoke (obscuring, the antithesis of clear fire) |
| दक्षिणायनम् | dakshinayanam | the southern path — the sun's southward journey (six months) |
| चान्द्रमसम् | candramasam | lunar, of the moon, belonging to the moon |
| ज्योतिः | jyotih | light (here: the lunar light, the reflected light) |
| निवर्तते | nivartate | returns, comes back (to samsara) |
| धूमः | dhūmaḥ | smoke |
| रात्रिः | rātriḥ | night |
| तथा | tathā | and also |
| कृष्णः | kṛṣṇaḥ | the dark fortnight |
| षण्-मासाः | ṣaṇ-māsāḥ | the six months |
| दक्षिणायनम् | dakṣiṇāyanam | the southern course (of the sun) |
| तत्र | tatra | there |
| चान्द्रमसम् | cāndramasam | the lunar world |
| ज्योतिः | jyotiḥ | light |
| योगी | yogī | the yogi |
| प्राप्य | prāpya | having attained |