Chapter 15, Verse 6
न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः | यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ||१५-६||
na tadbhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ . yadgatvā na nivartante taddhāma paramaṃ mama ||15-6||
Meaning
15.6 Neither doth the sun illumine there nor the moon, nor the fire; having gone thither they return not; that is My supreme abode.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna describes the supreme destination in a way that transcends all our ordinary categories of light. The sun, the moon, and fire are the three great sources of illumination in our world, yet none of them shines in that realm. This is not darkness but its opposite — a self-luminous reality that needs no external light because it is the very source of all light. As the Upanishads echo, 'by its shining all this shines.'
The phrase paramaṃ dhāma mama — 'My supreme abode' — is deeply tender. Krishna does not point to an abstract void but to His own home, intimate and personal. And once again the seal of finality is set: yad gatvā na nivartante — those who arrive there never fall back into the cycle of birth and death. This verse lifts the seeker's gaze from the effort of detachment toward the luminous, unending goal that makes all that effort worthwhile.
💡 Key Takeaway
The supreme goal is a self-luminous, eternal home from which the soul never has to return.
Related Verses
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा | अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलं असङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ||१५-३||
na rūpamasyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na cādirna ca sampratiṣṭhā . aśvatthamenaṃ suvirūḍhamūlaṃ asaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā ||15-3||
15.3 Its form is not perceived here as such, neither its end nor its origin, nor its foundation nor resting place: having cut asunder this firmly rooted peepul tree with the strong axe of non-attachment.
ततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः | तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये | यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी ||१५-४||
tataḥ padaṃ tatparimārgitavyaṃ yasmingatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ . tameva cādyaṃ puruṣaṃ prapadye . yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī ||15-4||
15.4 Then That goal should be sought for, whither having gone none returns again. I seek refuge in that Primeval Purusha Whence streamed forth the ancient activity or energy.
यदादित्यगतं तेजो जगद्भासयतेऽखिलम् | यच्चन्द्रमसि यच्चाग्नौ तत्तेजो विद्धि मामकम् ||१५-१२||
yadādityagataṃ tejo jagadbhāsayate.akhilam . yaccandramasi yaccāgnau tattejo viddhi māmakam ||15-12||
15.12 That light which residing in the sun illumines the whole world, that which is in the moon and in the fire know that light to be Mine.