8.26
Chapter 8, Verse 26
शुक्लकृष्णे गती ह्येते जगतः शाश्वते मते। एकया यात्यनावृत्तिमन्ययाऽऽवर्तते पुनः৷৷
śuklakṛṣṇē gatī hyētē jagataḥ śāśvatē matē. ēkayā yātyanāvṛttimanyayā৷৷vartatē punaḥ৷৷
Translation
These bright and dark paths out of the world have always existed. Whoso takes the former, returns not; he who chooses the latter, returns.*
Translation — Purohit Swami
Commentary
शुक्लकृष्णे bright and dark, गती (two) paths, हि verily, एते these, जगतः of the world, शाश्वते eternal, मते are thought, एकया by one, याति (he) goes, अनावृत्तिम् to nonreturn, अन्यया by another, आवर्तते (he) returns, पुनः again. Commentary: The bright path is the path to the gods taken by the devotees. The dark path is of the manes taken by those who perform sacrifices or charitable acts with the expectation of rewards. These two paths are not open to the whole world. The bright path is open to the devotees and the dark one to those who are devoted to the rituals. These paths are as eternal as the Samsara.World here means devotees or people devoted to ritual.Pitriloka or Chandraloka is Svarga or heaven.
Commentary — Swami Sivananda
Sanskrit and transliteration of the Bhagavad Gita. Corpus compiled from the vedabase and the IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite.