यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः | प्रयाता यान्ति तं कालं वक्ष्यामि भरतर्षभ ||२३||
yatra kāle tv anāvṛttim āvṛttiṃ caiva yoginaḥ | prayātā yānti taṃ kālaṃ vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha || 23 ||
At the time of departure, yogis travel one of two paths — one from which they do not return, one from which they do.
Word by word (3)
- yatra kāle tu anāvṛttim āvṛttiṃ ca eva yoginaḥ prayātāḥ yānti
- — The time at which departing yogis go to non-return or return · yatra = where, at which (relative adverb — 'at which time'). kāle = at the time (locative of kāla = time; kāle = at the time). tu = now (transition marker — 'now I shall tell you' — shifts the teaching from the what (V20-V22) to the when and how). anāvṛttim = non-return (an = not; āvṛtti = return, turning back — āvṛttim = the path of return; anāvṛttim = non-return, the path of no-return). āvṛttiṃ = return (the path of return to rebirth). ca eva = and indeed. yoginaḥ = yogis (the practitioners). prayātāḥ = departing (pra + √yā = to go forth — prayāta = departed, the one who has departed; prayātāḥ = plural — those who depart). yānti = they go (from √yā = to go). The verse introduces Ch.8's next topic: kāla (the time/path of departure) as the determinant of anāvṛtti (non-return) vs. āvṛtti (return to rebirth). This is the shift from the cosmological (what is the Supreme, V20-V22) to the practical-technical (how does one ensure reaching the Supreme at death, V23-V27).
- taṃ kālaṃ vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha
- — That time I shall declare, O bull of the Bharatas · taṃ kālaṃ = that time (accusative — 'that time [of departure]'). vakṣyāmi = I shall declare (future of √vac = to speak — first person singular: 'I will tell you'). bharatarṣabha = O bull of the Bharatas (bharata = of the Bharata clan; ṛṣabha = bull, the best among — bharatarṣabha = 'bull among the Bharatas,' the best of the Bharata lineage; used as an honorific address to Arjuna). The announcement: 'I shall now declare the two paths of departure.' V23 is thus a transition verse — it announces the topic of V24-V27 (the bright/northern path and the dark/southern path) without yet giving the content. The bhāratarṣabha address (bull among Bharatas) is an honorific that reminds Arjuna of his warrior lineage — connecting the practical death-path teaching to the warrior context of the Gita.
- kāla as path in V23 — the shift from cosmological to practical
- — V23's kāla (time/path) introduces the traditional Indian teaching of the two paths of departure (pitṛ-yāna and deva-yāna) · The Vedic and Upaniṣadic tradition describes two paths taken by the departed after death: (1) deva-yāna (the path of the gods) — associated with light, fire, day, waxing moon, northern solstice; those who go this way reach Brahman and do not return. (2) pitṛ-yāna (the path of the ancestors) — associated with smoke, night, waning moon, southern solstice; those who go this way reach the moon, experience their accumulated merit, and return to be reborn. This teaching appears in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 6.2 (the Pañcāgni-vidyā, five-fire teaching) and Chāndogya Upaniṣad 5.3-10 (in detail, with the path of the devas and the path of the ancestors). V23-V26 are the Gita's version of this traditional teaching. V23 is the introduction: now I will tell you about these two paths (kāla). The use of kāla (time) rather than mārga (path) or gati (course) reflects the fact that in the Vedic tradition, time (cosmic periods — day/night, waxing/waning moon, northern/southern sun) is understood as the vehicle of the soul's journey.
V23 is a transition/announcement verse: it introduces the next section (V24-V26) by announcing that Krishna will describe the two paths of departure — one leading to anāvṛtti (non-return, liberation) and one to āvṛtti (return, rebirth). V23 does not give the content — that comes in V24 (the bright path) and V25 (the dark path). V23's function: it signals that the teaching is now becoming practical (what path of departure leads where) after the philosophical-cosmological section (V16-V22).
A modern analogy
At a fork in the road, the direction you take determines where you end up. V23 announces: there are two forks in the road of departure (death), and I will tell you which leads where. This doesn't mean you schedule your death for a favorable astronomical period — it means understanding the quality of consciousness that characterizes each path so you can cultivate the quality that leads to non-return.
What it does NOT mean
V23's 'time' (kāla) does not mean that liberation depends on the astronomical calendar (whether the sun is in its northern course at the moment of death). The tradition interprets kāla here as referring to the cosmic/psychological state at the time of departure — the consciousness-quality, not the clock time. V27 will make this explicit: knowing both paths, the yogi is not deluded — suggesting the teaching is about the quality of departure consciousness, not scheduling.
Take with you
- V23 as a reminder that the Gita's death-teachings (V8-V14 = what to do at death; V23-V26 = what path the departure takes) are not morbid but practical: the Gita treats death as a solvable problem. Knowing the two paths (V23) and cultivating the quality that belongs to the non-return path is the practical application of all of Ch.8's teaching.
- V23's anāvṛttim (non-return) vs. āvṛttiṃ (return) as a daily frame: every moment of practice is a step toward anāvṛtti (the quality of departure that leads to non-return). V7's 'mām anusmara + yudhya ca' and V14's ananya-cetāḥ practice are precisely the cultivation of the anāvṛtti quality — consciousness oriented toward the Supreme.
- V23's 'O bull of the Bharatas' (bharatarṣabha) — the honorific warrior address — connects the two-path teaching to Arjuna's warrior context: the warrior's finest quality is not hesitation but decisive knowledge. Know which path leads where; cultivate the qualities of the path you wish to take.
V23 introduces the Gita's version of the Vedic 'two paths' doctrine — one of the most ancient and philosophically rich teachings in the Indian tradition. The doctrine originates in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 6.2 (Śvetaketu and Pravāhaṇa dialogue) and Chāndogya Upaniṣad 5.3-10, where the two paths are described in full detail: (1) **Deva-yāna** (the path of the gods): associated with the elements fire → day → waxing moon → northern solstice (six months) → sun → moon → lightning → rain → earth. The departed soul in this path eventually reaches Brahman (in the Upaniṣadic version) or the Supreme (in the Gita) and does not return. (2) **Pitṛ-yāna** (the path of the ancestors/Manes): associated with smoke → night → waning moon → southern solstice (six months) → moon → rain → plants → food → human birth. The soul in this path exhausts accumulated merit in the lunar realm and returns to birth. The Gita's version (V24-V26) preserves the Upaniṣadic framework but integrates it with the chapter's devotional-yogic context. The traditional cosmic (astronomical) markers are preserved (fire/light/day/waxing fortnight/northern sun for the bright path; smoke/night/dark fortnight/southern sun for the dark path) but V27 redirects the teaching toward the yogi's quality of consciousness rather than astronomical timing. The transition from V22 to V23 is significant: after declaring ananya-bhakti as the means (V22), Krishna now introduces the two paths — suggesting that the quality of departure (which path one takes) is related to the quality of practice (ananya-bhakti vs. its absence).
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya: the two paths (deva-yāna / pitṛ-yāna) describe the departure routes of different grades of practitioners — those with jñāna (the bright path → no return) vs. those with good karma but not jñāna (the dark path → return after lunar sojourn). The Vedic cosmological framework (fire, smoke, etc.) is taken as literal in the Upaniṣadic tradition (Bṛhadāraṇyaka 6.2 lists specific deities at each stage). Shankaracharya reads the deities as real cosmic presences that guide the soul. For jñāna-yogis, the path is immediate (no wandering through cosmic stages) — knowledge is instantaneous liberation.
Bhakti lens
For bhakti traditions, V23 introduces the teaching that the quality of one's devotion (ananya-bhakti, V22) determines one's departure path. Those with ananya-bhakti (undivided devotion to Krishna) take the bright path of non-return; those with divided or incomplete devotion may return for further practice. V27's 'knowing both paths, no devotee is deluded' applies to the bhakta who has internalized V22's ananya-bhakti — such a one knows which path they are cultivating.
Karma-Yoga lens
The karma yogi who offers all actions to the Supreme (mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi, V9.27) is cultivating the bright-path quality (ananya-orientation) in every action. V23's two-path teaching makes the karma yogi's practice have a clear direction: every ananya-oriented action is a step toward the bright path's non-return. Divided action (with attachment to results) cultivates the dark path's return quality.
Modern parallels
V23's two-path teaching parallels modern understandings of habit formation and dispositional training: what you repeatedly practice becomes what you are — and what you are at a moment of crisis (death being the ultimate crisis) is the sum of what you have practiced. The 'two paths' are not chosen at the moment of death but are the accumulated result of one's lifetime of orientation. V23-V27 are thus the Gita's teaching on lifetime spiritual formation, not just death-moment technique.
Practice
V23 contemplation before V24-V26: sit quietly and ask: 'What is the quality of my current orientation? If I were to depart right now — which path am I on? Is my mind oriented toward the Supreme (bright path quality) or toward objects, outcomes, and attachments (dark path quality)?' This is not morbidity but a quality check — a way of using V23's two-path framework to assess and redirect one's daily orientation.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Now I shall tell thee, O bull of the Bharatas, of the time (path) travelling in which, the Yogis return, (and again of that, taking which) they do not return. [4]
Now I will declare the time, O Bull of the Bhâratas, at which dying, Yogis go to freedom or return. [5]
I will now declare to thee, O best of the Bharatas, at what time yogis dying obtain freedom from or subjection to rebirth. [6]
Richer than holy fruit on Vedas growing... [Arnold's V23-V28 are compressed into the chapter close — see Telang for verse-specific texts] [7]
I will state the times, O descendant of Bharata! at which devotees departing (from this world) go, never to return, or to return. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Fire, Light, Day, waxing fortnight, six months of Northern sun — taking this path, Brahman-knowers reach Brahman.
Smoke, Night, dark fortnight, six months of the Southern sun — by this path the yogi attains the moon and returns.
Knowing both paths, no yogi is deluded. Therefore, O Arjuna, be steadfast in yoga at all times.
Seeing inaction in action, action in inaction — that one is wise, a yogi, a complete doer of all actions.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
Nothing in this world purifies like jñāna. The karma-yogi finds it within themselves in time.