History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.28

v5.c72.28

There are also dicta about the time when it is best to die. The Śāntiparva of the Mahābhārata states ‘he who dies after the sun has gone to the northern direction (i. e. when the apparent motion of the sun towards the north begins) and on any auspicious *nakṣatra* and *muhūrta* is really one who has a store of merit (with him)’.⁴³⁶ This is based on the ideas of death in *Uttarāyaṇa* and *Dakṣiṇāyana* found in the Upaniṣads. For example, the Chāndogya Up. (IV. 15. 5-6) states ‘Now (if one who knows this dies) whether people perform obsequies for him or not he goes to light (*arcis*), from light to day, from day to the bright half of the moon, from thence to the six months during which the sun goes to the north, from the months to the year, from the year to the sun, from the sun to the moon, from the moon to lightning. There is a person who is not human that leads them to Brahman. This is the path of the Devas, the path that leads to Brahman. Those who proceed on that path do not return to the life of man, *yes, they do not return*. There is a similar passage in Chāndogya Up. V. 10. 1-2 where it is said that even householders who know the doctrine of the five fires (*Pañcāgni-vidyā*) and those who in the forest follow the path of faith and austerities (i. e. vānaprasthas and parivrājakas who do not yet know Highest Brahman) go by the path called Devayāna, while (V. 10. 3-7) those, who, living in a village, practise sacrifices, works of public utility and alms, go to smoke, from smoke to night, from night to the dark half of the moon, from thence to the six months when the sun goes to the south, from thence to the worlds of the fathers, from thence to ether (*ākāśa*) and to the moon, where they consume their works and return again the way they came. The Chān Up. (V. 10. 8) refers to a third place where small creatures (like flies, worms &c.) are continually going and returning. The Br. Up. (VI 2. 15-16) contains similar passages about Devaloka, Pitṛloka and the third world of worms, birds and creeping beings. The Bhagavadgītā, basing itself on these Upaniṣad passages, puts the matter succinctly (in 8 23-25) as follows:—'I shall state the times at which devotees departing from this world go, never to return or to return. The fire, the flame, the day, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern (apparent) motion of the sun; departing from the world in these those who know the Brahman go to Brahman. Smoke, night, the dark fortnight, the six months of the southern (apparent) motion of the sun; dying in these the devotee goes to the lunar light and returns. These two paths, bright and dark, are deemed to be eternal in this world. By the one a man goes never to return, by the other he comes back'. The Vedāntasūtra (IV. 3 4-6) explains that the words 'light' 'day' and others are not to be taken in their literal sense (i. e. as signposts or stages on the paths) but they are to be understood as referring to superintending deities that help the spirits and lead them on the path to the worlds of the Devas or of Pitṛs (i e. they are *ātivāhikas* and *abhimānidevatās*). Śaṅkara on Vedāntasūtra IV. 2. 20 (ataścāyanepi dakṣiṇe) explains that the waiting for the day of Uttarāyaṇa on the part of Bhīṣma (narrated in the Mahābhārata) is only meant as a eulogy of the path called 'arcirādi', that one who has realized Brahma, even if he dies in dakṣiṇāyana, does secure the fruits of his knowledge (viz.