A declaration · expansive in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“The highest home is beyond every ordinary light and beyond return.”
The sun, moon, and fire do not illumine that place. Having reached it, one does not return. That supreme abode is Mine.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallynot · that · illumines · the sun · not · the moon · not · fire · which · having gone · not · they return · that · abode · supreme · Mine
Krishna says his highest abode cannot be illuminated by ordinary light, and anyone who reaches it does not come back to the cycle of return.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Purushottama Yoga" (The Yoga of the Supreme Person).
Verse 6 sits in Chapter 15 of the Bhagavad Gita — Purushottama Yoga, "The Yoga of the Supreme Person". The chapter has 20 verses in total.
During a long power cut in a village, people learn how much they depend on lamps and the moon. Krishna describes a place that needs none of these, where those who arrive do not return.
Did you like this verse?
Sun, moon and fire give no light to Krishna's supreme abode, and whoever reaches it stays.
What this verse means
Krishna says his highest abode cannot be illuminated by ordinary light, and anyone who reaches it does not come back to the cycle of return.
Context & commentary
Krishna has been describing the highest reality beyond decay and return. Now Krishna names that goal directly: a supreme abode beyond sun, moon, and fire, reached by those who will not fall back into the cycle.
What it looks like today
During a long power cut in a village, people learn how much they depend on lamps and the moon. Krishna describes a place that needs none of these, where those who arrive do not return.
“Krishna's own abode needs no sun or moon, and no one falls back from it.”
Explore related themes: purushottama (14 verses)