BHAGAVAD-GITA 8:23

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 8:23

 

yatra kale tv anavrttim

avrttim caiva yoginah

prayata yanti tam kalam

vaksyami bharatarsabha

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

yatra--at which; kale--time; tu--and; anavrttim--no return;

avrttim--return; ca--also; eva--certainly; yoginah--different kinds of

mystics; prayatah--having departed; yanti--attain; tam--that;

kalam--time; vaksyami--I shall describe; bharata-rsabha--O best of the

Bharatas.

 

TRANSLATION

 

O best of the Bharatas, I shall now explain to you the different times

at which, passing away from this world, the yogi does or does not come

back.

 

PURPORT

 

The unalloyed devotees of the Supreme Lord, who are totally

surrendered souls, do not care when they leave their bodies or by what

method. They leave everything in Krsna's hands and so easily and

happily return to Godhead. But those who are not unalloyed devotees

and who depend instead on such methods of spiritual realization as

karma-yoga, jnana-yoga and hatha-yoga must leave the body at a

suitable time and thereby be assured whether or not they will return

to the world of birth and death.

 

If the yogi is perfect he can select the time and situation for

leaving this material world. But if he is not so expert his success

depends on his accidentally passing away at a certain suitable time.

The suitable times at which one passes away and does not come back are

explained by the Lord in the next verse. According to Acarya Baladeva

Vidyabhusana, the Sanskrit word kala used herein refers to the

presiding deity of time.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.