Hereafter

The Blessed Lord said: O Partha, neither here nor in the hereafter is there ruin for such a one. For truly, dear friend, no one who performs good deeds ever comes to a miserable end.

If he desires the world of the fathers, by his mere resolve the fathers arise; possessing that world of the fathers, he is exalted.

The utterly deluded, believing ritual sacrifice and pious works to be supreme, know nothing higher. After enjoying the reward at the summit of heaven, they fall back to this world—or to one even lower.

Then Saibya Satyakama asked: Revered one, if a person meditates on the syllable Om until the end of life, which world does he win by it? He answered him.

When the embodied one meets death while sattva prevails, it reaches the pure realms of those who know the highest.

But those who, dwelling in villages, devote themselves to sacrifices, works of public benefit, and almsgiving, pass into the smoke; from the smoke into the night, from the night into the dark fortnight, and from the dark fortnight into the six months during which the sun travels southward. They do not reach the year.

From those months they pass into the year, from the year into the sun, from the sun into the moon, from the moon into the lightning. There a being who is not human leads them to Brahman. This is the path of the gods.

Now, those who know this thus, and those who in the forest devote themselves to faith and austerity, pass into the flame; from the flame into the day, from the day into the bright fortnight, and from the bright fortnight into the six months during which the sun travels northward.

"He who, knowing this, meditates on it destroys evil deeds, gains a world, attains a full span of life, and lives in brightness; his descendants do not perish. We support him in this world and in the next — whoever, knowing this, meditates on it."

"He who, knowing this, meditates on it destroys evil deeds, gains a world, attains a full span of life, and lives in brightness; his descendants do not perish. We support him in this world and in the next — whoever, knowing this, meditates on it."

"He who, knowing this, meditates on it destroys evil deeds, gains a world, attains a full span of life, and lives in brightness; his descendants do not perish. We support him in this world and in the next — whoever, knowing this, meditates on it."

Those who partake of the nectar that remains after sacrifice attain the eternal Brahman. O best of the Kurus, this world is not for one who performs no sacrifice — let alone the other world.

Having dwelt there as long as their merit lasts, they return again by the very way they came: into space, and from space into the air. Having become air, one becomes smoke; having become smoke, one becomes mist.

From those months they pass into the world of the fathers, from the world of the fathers into space, and from space into the moon. That is King Soma; that is the food of the gods, and the gods feed upon it.

'Do you know why yonder world is never filled up?' 'No, revered Sir.' 'Do you know how, at the fifth oblation, the waters come to be called man?' 'No indeed, revered Sir.'

"Now, whether the funeral rites are performed for such a person or not, he passes into the flame; from the flame into the day, from the day into the bright fortnight, from the bright fortnight into the six months when the sun moves north, from the months into the year, from the year into the sun, from the sun into the moon, from the moon into lightning. There a person who is not human leads them to Brahman. This is the path of the gods, the path to Brahman. Those who proceed by it do not return to this human whirlpool — they do not return."

If one meditates with two syllable-measures and becomes absorbed in the mind, the Yajur formulas raise him to the mid-region, to the lunar world. Having experienced greatness in the lunar world, he returns.

Those who know the three Vedas, who drink the soma and are cleansed of sin, worship Me with sacrifice and pray for passage to heaven; reaching the pure realm of Indra's lord, they enjoy in the sky the divine pleasures of the gods.

By giving away land, a person acquires a land that yields nectar in their next life.

The year itself is Prajapati, with its two paths: the southern and the northern. Those who worship through ritual action and charity win only the lunar world and return again. Therefore sages who desire offspring take the southern path — that is Rayi, the path of the ancestors.