Verse 15.6

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 15.6:

न तद् भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः ।
यद् गत्वा न निवर्त्तन्ते तद् धाम परमं मम ॥ ६ ॥

na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ |
yad gatvā na nivarttante tad dhāma paramaṃ mama || 6 ||

na–neither; tat–that; bhāsayate–illuminate; sūryaḥ–the sun; na–nor; śaśāṅkaḥ–the moon; na–nor; pāvakaḥ–fire; yat–which; gatvā–having attained; na nivarttante–he never returns; tat–that (place); dhāma–abode; paramam–supreme (all-illuminating); mama–Mine.

In that supreme self-effulgent realm, sun, moon and fire are not required for illumination. When surrendered persons attain that abode of Mine, they do not return to this world.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

“What is the nature of that supreme abode?” In response, Śrī Bhagavān speaks this verse beginning with na tad. That place is free from miseries such as heat and cold, and it is self-luminous.

“That supreme abode of Mine is superior to all others and beyond the scope of the material senses. It is tejaḥ, all-illuminating.” It is said in the Hari-vaṃśa that Parabrahma, the Supreme Reality, who is superior to brahma, has arranged the universe and made it appear in various forms. “O Bhārata, you must know about that brahma, My concentrated effulgence.”

It is also said in Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.2.15):

na tatra sūryo bhāti na candra tārakam
nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto’agni

What to speak of fire, not even the effulgence of the sun, the light of the moon and stars, and the splendour of lightning exist there. Everything is illuminated by His effulgence only.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The svarūpa, or intrinsic nature, of Bhagavān’s abode is explained in the present verse. After reaching that abode, one never returns to the material world. That abode is not illuminated by the sun, moon, fire or lightning; it is self-effulgent. That supreme abode is called Goloka, Kṛṣṇa-loka, Vraja, Gokula or Vṛndāvana. Svayam Bhagavān, Vrajendra-nandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa, eternally performs blissful pastimes there, along with His associates. Only by cultivating prema-bhakti, or rāgānugā-bhakti, which specifically follows the footsteps of the vraja-gopīs, can one gain entrance there. There is no other means. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has indicated that very dhāma by the words paramam mama.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “Neither the sun, moon nor fire can illuminate that immutable abode of Mine. After reaching My abode, the jīva is never again cheated of eternal bliss. In reality, the living entity is either bound to material existence (baddha) or liberated from it (mukta). Due to falsely identifying the body with the self, the jīva in his bound state desires to associate with matter. The jīva in the liberated state always tastes the nectar of blissful service to Me. To attain this state, it is imperative for one who is situated within this world to cut the aśvattha tree of the material world with the weapon of detachment, asaṅga.

“Attachment to mundane objects is called saṅga. Those who can give up that attachment, even while situated within this mundane sphere, are by nature nirguṇa, or beyond the modes of nature, and only they achieve devotion that is beyond the modes of nature, nirguṇā-bhakti.

“Taking the company of saintly persons is also called asaṅga. There-fore, a bound jīva in this material world should give up his attachment to mundane objects and, with the help of saintly persons, cut his bondage to the material world at the very root. One may pretend to practise detachment by accepting the dress of a sannyāsī, but this will not actually cut one’s mundane entanglement. When a jīva adopts My supremely blissful bhakti and relinquishes all desires that have no connection with Me, he attains mukti. In other words, the dissolution of his bondage to the material world is a mere secondary result of his endeavour. Therefore, the bhakti I have described (in Chapter Twelve) is the ultimate goal of the jīvas who desire eternal auspiciousness.”

The previous chapter explained that all types of empirical knowledge are contaminated by the modes of nature, and that pure knowledge, which acts to serve bhakti, is beyond the modes. This chapter reveals that all types of detachment are also contaminated by the modes of nature. Only that detachment which arises as a concomitant result of bhakti transcends the modes of material nature.