Shloka 20
Kapila’s Conclusion: Limits of Karma and Yoga; Supremacy of Bhakti and Qualification to Receive the Teaching
दक्षिणेन पथार्यम्ण: पितृलोकं व्रजन्ति ते । प्रजामनु प्रजायन्ते श्मशानान्तक्रियाकृत: ॥ २० ॥
dakṣiṇena pathāryamṇaḥ pitṛ-lokaṁ vrajanti te prajām anu prajāyante śmaśānānta-kriyā-kṛtaḥ
Such materialistic persons go to Pitṛloka by the sun’s southern course, along Yama’s path; yet they return again, taking birth in their own families and resuming the same fruitive rites from birth to the funeral end.
In Bhagavad-gītā, Ninth Chapter, verse 21, it is stated that such persons are elevated to the higher planetary systems. As soon as their lifetimes of fruitive activity are finished, they return to this planet, and thus they go up and come down. Those who are elevated to the higher planets again come back into the same family for which they had too much attachment; they are born, and the fruitive activities continue again until the end of life. There are different prescribed rituals from birth until the end of life, and they are very much attached to such activities.
FAQs
This verse states that those connected with funeral rites and ancestral duties go by the southern path under Aryamā to Pitṛloka, and from there they return to birth by following their family line.
Kapila is teaching Devahūti how different karmic paths lead to different destinations after death; Pitṛloka is one such destination for those bound to ritualistic and ancestral obligations, distinct from the path of pure devotion and liberation.
Perform duties responsibly and honor ancestors, but understand that ritual merit alone keeps one within the cycle of return; for lasting freedom, one should cultivate devotion and spiritual realization beyond merely karmic results.