मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम्।
नाप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः।।8.15।।
आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन।
मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते।।8.16।।
सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद्ब्रह्मणो विदुः।
रात्रिं युगसहस्रान्तां तेऽहोरात्रविदो जनाः।।8.17।।
As a result of reaching Me, the exalted ones who have attained the highest perfection do not get rebirth, which is an abode of sorrows and is impermanent.
O Arjuna, all the worlds together with the world of Brahma are subject to return. But, O son of Kunti, there is no return after reaching Me.
Those people who know what day and night are, know the day of Brahma which ends in a thousand yugas, and His night which also ends in a thousand yugas.
Osho’s Commentary
The one who reaches me, says Krishna, does not return to this world, which is a duhkhalayam—an abode of misery—and is ashashvatam, ephemeral, transient. All pleasure in this world is fleeting. It is like an oasis in a desert, which disappears as you come closer. This constant arising and passing away of things is the very nature of suffering. The search for permanence in an impermanent world is the root of all misery. All the worlds, even the highest heaven of Brahma, are subject to return. They are all within the cycle of time. You may attain a heaven through good deeds, but when your merit is exhausted, you have to fall back. But the one who attains me, who goes beyond all the worlds of time and enters the timeless, for him there is no return. And then Krishna gives a cosmic sense of time. A day of Brahma, the creator, is a thousand yugas, a thousand great ages. And his night is also a thousand yugas. Those who know this, they are the true knowers of the rhythm of existence. This is a very Eastern perspective. Time is not a linear progression, but a vast, cosmic cycle of creation and dissolution. To be trapped in this cycle is to be in bondage. To step out of it is liberation.