Devanagari
न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावक: ।
यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ॥ ६ ॥
Verse text
na tad bhāsayate sūryo
na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yad gatvā na nivartante
tad dhāma paramaṁ mama
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
tat
—
that
;
bhāsayate
—
illuminates
;
sūryaḥ
—
the sun
;
na
—
nor
;
śaśāṅkaḥ
—
the moon
;
na
—
nor
;
pāvakaḥ
—
fire, electricity
;
yat
—
where
;
gatvā
—
going
;
na
—
never
;
nivartante
—
they come back
;
tat dhāma
—
that abode
;
paramam
—
supreme
;
mama
—
My.
Translation
That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
6. The sun, moon and fire do not illuminate this supreme light of Mine. Having attained this light one does not return.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
6. The sun, moon and fire do not light up My supreme form. Having attained this beautiful form of Mine, they do not return.
Purport
The spiritual world, the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa – which is known as Kṛṣṇaloka, Goloka Vṛndāvana – is described here. In the spiritual sky there is no need of sunshine, moonshine, fire or electricity, because all the planets are self-luminous. We have only one planet in this universe, the sun, which is self-luminous, but all the planets in the spiritual sky are self-luminous. The shining effulgence of all those planets (called Vaikuṇṭhas) constitutes the shining sky known as the brahma-jyotir. Actually, the effulgence is emanating from the planet of Kṛṣṇa, Goloka Vṛndāvana. Part of that shining effulgence is covered by the mahat-tattva, the material world. Other than this, the major portion of that shining sky is full of spiritual planets, which are called Vaikuṇṭhas, chief of which is Goloka Vṛndāvana.
As long as a living entity is in this dark material world, he is in conditional life, but as soon as he reaches the spiritual sky by cutting through the false, perverted tree of this material world, he becomes liberated. Then there is no chance of his coming back here. In his conditional life, the living entity considers himself to be the lord of this material world, but in his liberated state he enters into the spiritual kingdom and becomes an associate of the Supreme Lord. There he enjoys eternal bliss, eternal life, and full knowledge.
One should be captivated by this information. He should desire to transfer himself to that eternal world and extricate himself from this false reflection of reality. For one who is too much attached to this material world, it is very difficult to cut that attachment, but if he takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is a chance of gradually becoming detached. One has to associate himself with devotees, those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One should search out a society dedicated to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and learn how to discharge devotional service. In this way he can cut off his attachment to the material world. One cannot become detached from the attraction of the material world simply by dressing himself in saffron cloth. He must become attached to the devotional service of the Lord. Therefore one should take it very seriously that devotional service as described in the Twelfth Chapter is the only way to get out of this false representation of the real tree. In Chapter Fourteen the contamination of all kinds of processes by material nature is described. Only devotional service is described as purely transcendental.
The words paramaṁ mama are very important here. Actually every nook and corner is the property of the Supreme Lord, but the spiritual world is paramam, full of six opulences. The Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.2.15) also confirms that in the spiritual world there is no need of sunshine, moonshine or stars ( na tatra sūryo bhāti na candra-tārakam ), for the whole spiritual sky is illuminated by the internal potency of the Supreme Lord. That supreme abode can be achieved only by surrender and by no other means.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
What are the qualities of that object which is attained? The words “Sun, moon and fire do not light it” means that it is self- revealing, self-dependent, self-sufficient, and devoid of miseries such as heat and cold (caused by the sun, moon and fire). tad dhāma paramaṁ mama means that light (dhāma) [Note: Dhāma can mean light, place and form.] which is non-material, beyond the material senses (paramam), which illuminates or reveals everything else, and which belongs to Me (mama). The Hari Vaṁśa says:
tat paraṁ paramaṁ brahma sarvaṁ vibhajate jagat
mamaiva tad ghanaṁ tejo jṣātum arhasi bhārata
That supreme Brahman lights up this whole universe. You should know that this intense light belongs to Me, O Bhārata. Hari Vaṁśa 2.114.12
The śruti says:
na tatra sūryo bhāti na candra-tārakaṁ
nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto’yam agniḥ
tam eva bhāntam anubhāti sarvaṁ
tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṁ vibhāti
The sun does not shine there, nor do the moon or stars. Nor does lightning shine. How, then, can fire burn? When He shines, all of these shine. Through His light, all things shine. Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.15
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
The Lord, in describing the pada, indicates Himself. Having attained it, the surrendered persons do not return. That pada is My svarūpa, My form (dhāma), which is full of all excellences (paramam). Though the sun and moon and light illuminate everything, they do not illuminate that form. The śrutis say na tatra sūryo: there exists no sun there. (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 5.15) That form cannot be lit by the sun, but rather, that form, which the sun cannot reveal, illuminates the sun and all other luminaries. I, the husband of Lakṣmi, the form of knowledge which reveals itself, am to be known as the padam. I am attained by those who surrender.
mam
Surrender Unto Me
This has already been explained several times in previous chapters.
Krsna is giving a glimpse of the spiritual world from where we belong and mostly has to do with eternity. But of course we know from other scriptures that the spiritual world is not only eternal, there much more details about it. This spiritual world is where the living entities came from and what are they doing now in the analogy of the tree? Is jumping from branch to branch, which means transmigrating.
Now Krsna explains that we are actually eternal, we are not born when the body is born, we are not dying when the body dies.