8.26 Both paths are permanent Krishna speaks
शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते
एकया यात्यनावृत्तिमन्ययाऽऽवर्तते पुनः
śhukla-kṛiṣhṇe gatī hyete jagataḥ śhāśhvate mate
ekayā yātyanāvṛittim anyayāvartate punaḥ
These two paths, the bright and the dark, are held to be constant in this world. By one, a person does not return; by the other, they come back again.
Explanation
Both paths are permanent features of the world.
śāśvate — constant, perpetual. The bright and the dark are not a norm and an emergency; they are two standing possibilities.
Which is a peculiar thing to assert. If the dark path is permanent, then returning is permanently part of how things are, and liberation is not a programme the world is working its way toward. It is available always, and always alongside its alternative.
Word by word
- śhukla
- bright
- kṛiṣhṇe
- dark
- gatī
- paths
- hi
- certainly
- ete
- these
- jagataḥ
- of the material world
- śhāśhvate
- eternal
- mate
- opinion
- ekayā
- by one
- yāti
- goes
- anāvṛittim
- to non return
- anyayā
- by the other
- āvartate
- comes back
- punaḥ
- again
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