अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् | तत्र प्रयाता गच्छन्ति ब्रह्म ब्रह्मविदो जनाः || २४ ||
agnir jyotir ahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇ-māsā uttarāyaṇam tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahma-vido janāḥ
agniḥ—fire; jyotiḥ—light; ahaḥ—day; śuklaḥ—the bright fortnight; ṣaṭ-māsāḥ—six months; uttarāyaṇam—the northern passage of the sun; tatra—there; prayātāḥ—departing; gacchanti—go; brahma—to Brahman; brahma-vidaḥ—knowers of Brahman; janāḥ—persons.
“Fire, light, daytime, the bright lunar fortnight, the six months of the northern course of the sun—departing through these, knowers of Brahman go to Brahman.”
The symbolic elements—fire, light, day, bright fortnight, northern solstice—represent increasing degrees of luminosity and consciousness. The Devayana (path of the gods) is the path of increasing awareness, culminating in merger with Brahman. Those who depart through this path of light do not return to the cycle.
Cultivate the qualities symbolised by the Devayana: light (clarity of mind), fire (intensity of practice), brightness (ethical purity). These are not arbitrary ritual conditions but metaphors for the inner state that enables liberation. A bright, clear, purified mind is the 'northern path' walked throughout life.