薄伽梵歌 8.24

此乃「北行道」（Uttara Marga）或「天道」（Devayana），亦即光明之道，瑜伽士（Yogis）藉此道趨向梵（Brahman）。此道通往解脫，引導虔信者至梵天界（Brahmaloka）。太陽北行之六個月，約為一月中旬至七月中旬，被視為離世的較佳時期。此處的「時間」意指道路或道路上的階段。火與光是掌管時間的神祇。白晝是掌管白天的神祇。明月半期是掌管它的神祇。太陽北行之六個月是掌管北方道路的神祇。此乃通往解脫的啟明之道。已證悟真我（Atman）的解脫聖者，其生命氣息不離散，而是融入梵（Brahman）。獲得「獨存解脫」（Kaivalya Moksha）或即時解脫的「生者解脫者」（Jivanmuktas），無處可去亦無處可歸，他們與遍佈一切的梵合而為一。

This is the UttaraMarga or Devayana? the northern path or the path of light? by which the Yogis go to Brahman. This path leads to salvation. It takes the devotee to Brahmaloka. The six months of the northern solstice is from the middle of January to the middle of July. It is regarded as the better period for death. There is a vivid description in the Chhandogya Upanishad? the Kaushitaki Upanishad and the Brahma Sutras? chapter IV.3 and 4? ii. 18 and 21.On the road beginning with light (the departed soul proceeds)? on account of that being widely known.Having reached the path of the gods he comes to the world of Agni (fire)? to the world of Vayu (air)? to the world of Varuna (rain)? to the world of Indra (king of the gods)? to the world of Prajapati (the Creator)? to the world of Brahman.They go to the light? from the light to day? from day to the waxing half of the moon? from the waxing half of the moon to the six months when the sun goes to the north? from those months to the year? from the year to the sun.When the person goes away from this world he comes to Vayu (air). Then Vayu room for him like the hole of a wheel and through it he mounts higher. He comes to the sun.From the moon to the lightning there a person that is not human leads him to Brahman.Time is here used in the sense of the path or the stage on the path. Fire and light are the deities who preside over time. Daytime is the deity who presides over the day. The bright fortnight is the deity presiding over it. The six months of the northern solstice are the deity who presides over the northern path.This is the path of illumination that leads to liberation.The lifreaths of the liberated sages who have attained knowledge of the Self do not depart. They are absorbed in Brahman. The Jivanmuktas who attain KaivalyaMoksha or immediate,salvation or liberation have no place to go to or return from. They become one with the allpervading Brahman.Each step may mean a plane or a state of consciousness or the degree of purity or illumination. The more the purity the more the divine light. There are bright objects throughout the course of the path. There is illumination or knowledge when one passes along this path. Hence it is called the path of light.After Bhishma was mortally wounded? he lay on the bed of arrows till the onset of the northern solstice and then departed from here to the Abode of the Lord.