Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 8, Verse 26

शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते । एकया यात्यनावृत्तिमन्ययावर्तते पुनः

śuklakṛṣṇe gatī hyete jagataḥ śāśvate mate | ekayā yātyanāvṛttimanyayāvartate punaḥ

Translation

These bright and dark Paths of the world are verily deemed eternal; by the one a man goes to return not, by the other he returns again.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

śuklakṛṣṇe

light, and, dark, and

gatī

(two) paths

hi

indeed

ete

these

jagataḥ

of the world

śāśvate

eternal (two)

mate

are thought (two)

ekayā

by one

yāti

(he) goes

anāvṛttim

to non-return

anyayā

by another

āvartate

(he) returns

punaḥ

again

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

The one is bright because it illumines knowledge; the other is dark because it is wanting in that light. The two paths are open to those only in the world who are engaged in action or devoted to knowledge; they are not open to the whole world. They are eternal, because saṃsāra is eternal. "By the one": by the bright one.