Srimad Bhagavatam — Saptama Skandha, Shloka 50
Nārada’s Instructions: Śrāddha, True Dharma, Contentment, Yoga, and Devotion-Centered Renunciation
द्रव्यसूक्ष्मविपाकश्च धूमो रात्रिरपक्षय: । अयनं दक्षिणं सोमो दर्श ओषधिवीरुध: ॥ ५० ॥ अन्नं रेत इति क्ष्मेश पितृयानं पुनर्भव: । एकैकश्येनानुपूर्वं भूत्वा भूत्वेह जायते ॥ ५१ ॥
dravya-sūkṣma-vipākaś ca dhūmo rātrir apakṣayaḥ ayanaṁ dakṣiṇaṁ somo darśa oṣadhi-vīrudhaḥ
My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, when ghee and grains such as barley and sesame are offered as oblations, their subtle result becomes celestial smoke, carrying the performer step by step through realms called Dhūma, Rātri, Kṛṣṇapakṣa and Dakṣiṇāyana, and finally to the moon. Yet afterward he descends again to earth, becoming herbs, creepers, vegetables and grains; these are eaten, turned into semen, placed within a woman’s body, and thus birth occurs again and again.
This is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (9.21) :
FAQs
This verse outlines the Pitṛyāna sequence after death—smoke, night, the dark fortnight, the sun’s southern course, the moon, the new-moon day—leading to rebirth through vegetation and food.
Parīkṣit was preparing for death and liberation; Śukadeva taught him how karmic routes bind the soul to repeated birth, contrasting them with the liberating path of devotion.
It encourages detachment from karma-based goals and motivates steady bhakti—hearing and chanting—so one does not return to repeated rebirth.