8.25
धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम् ।
तत्र चान्द्रमसं ज्योतिर्योगी प्राप्य निवर्तते ॥
dhūmo rātris tathā kṛṣṇaḥ ṣaṇmāsā dakṣiṇāyanam
tatra cāndramasaṃ jyotir yogī prāpya nivartate
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) continues. The second time. The list is the reverse of 8.24, and the verb is return.
The verse
Smoke, night, and so the dark fortnight, the six months of the southern course: there the yogin, having reached the moon's light, returns.
नेपालीमा
धुवाँ, रात, अनि अँध्यारो पक्ष, दक्षिण मार्गका छ महिना, त्यहाँ योगी चन्द्रमाको ज्योतिमा पुगेर फर्किन्छ।
Where it sits
The second path is not a failure of memory from 8.5. It is the other time of departure. He reaches a light, the moon's, and he comes back. 8.26 will set the two paths side by side as the bright and the dark, and say which one does not return.
Split: धूमः + रात्रिः + तथा + कृष्णः + षष्-मासाः + दक्षिणायनम् + तत्र + चान्द्रमसम् + ज्योतिः + योगी + प्राप्य + निवर्तते
dhūmaḥ + rātriḥ + tathā + kṛṣṇaḥ + ṣaṣ-māsāḥ + dakṣiṇāyanam + tatra + cāndramasam + jyotiḥ + yogī + prāpya + nivartate
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| धूमः | dhūmaḥ | nominative | smoke. |
| रात्रिः | rātriḥ | nominative | night. |
| तथा | tathā | indeclinable | and so, likewise. |
| कृष्णः | kṛṣṇaḥ | nominative | the dark one, the dark fortnight. Not the name of the speaker. |
| षष्-मासाः | ṣaṣ-māsāḥ | nominative plural | the six months. |
| दक्षिणायनम् | dakṣiṇāyanam | accusative neuter | the southern course. dakṣiṇa (दक्षिण) "south." |
| तत्र | tatra | indeclinable | there. |
| चान्द्रमसम् | cāndramasam | accusative neuter | lunar, of the moon. Agrees with jyotiḥ (ज्योतिः). |
| ज्योतिः | jyotiḥ | accusative | light. |
| योगी | yogī | nominative of yogin (योगिन्) | the yogin. Singular. |
| प्राप्य | prāpya | gerund | having reached. |
| निवर्तते | nivartate | present, 3rd singular, middle | he returns. |
The phrases
dhūmaḥ rātriḥ tathā kṛṣṇaḥ ṣaṇmāsāḥ dakṣiṇāyanam (धूमः रात्रिः तथा कृष्णः षण्मासाः दक्षिणायनम्) answers the bright list with a dark one. Smoke against fire, night against day, the dark fortnight against the bright, the southern course against the northern. tathā (तथा) marks the pairing. kṛṣṇaḥ (कृष्णः) here is "the dark," the fortnight. It is not the vocative of the speaker.
tatra cāndramasaṃ jyotiḥ yogī prāpya nivartate (तत्र चान्द्रमसं ज्योतिः योगी प्राप्य निवर्तते) is the result. There the yogin, having reached the moon's light, returns. prāpya (प्राप्य) is the gerund. nivartate (निवर्तते) is singular, so yogī (योगी) is one man, nominative singular of yogin (योगिन्). This is the āvṛtti (आवृत्ति) of 8.23.
Sanskrit in this line
ज्योतिः + योगी jyotiḥ + yogī is recited jyotir yogī (ज्योतिर्योगी). iḥ (इः) before y (य्) becomes ir (इर्), the same change as अग्निः + ज्योतिः agniḥ + jyotiḥ in 8.24. cāndramasam (चान्द्रमसम्) is an adjective, "belonging to the moon," and it is accusative neuter because jyotiḥ (ज्योतिः) is neuter. The adjective takes the gender and case of the noun it describes.
yogī (योगी) is the nominative singular of an -in (इन्) stem. The plural, and the genitive singular, are yoginaḥ (योगिनः). The singular verb nivartate (निवर्तते) is what shows you this yogī (योगी) is one man.
Say it back
The dark list, then the return. If nivartate (निवर्तते) comes out as "he goes to brahman," you have recited 8.24's ending on 8.25's list.