Shloka 26
विभूति-योगः (Vibhūti-yoga) — Exemplary Manifestations as a Contemplative Index
शुक्लकृष्णे गती होते जगत: शाश्वते मते । एकया यात्यनावृत्तिमन्यया5<वर्तते पुन:,क्योंकि जगतके ये दो प्रकारके--शुक्ल और कृष्ण अर्थात् देवयान और पितृयान मार्ग सनातन माने गये हैं।* इनमें एकके द्वारा गया हुआ“--जिससे वापस नहीं लौटना पड़ता, उस परम गतिको प्राप्त होता है और दूसरेके द्वारा गया हुआः फिर वापस आता है अर्थात् जन्म-मृत्युको प्राप्त होता है
arjuna uvāca | śukla-kṛṣṇe gatī hī ete jagataḥ śāśvate mate | ekayā yāty anāvṛttim anyayā vartate punaḥ ||
Arjuna said: “These two courses of departure for the world—called the bright and the dark—are held to be eternal. By the one, a person goes to the state from which there is no return; by the other, one returns again, entering once more into the cycle of birth and death.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes two enduring ‘paths’ or destinies: one leading to anāvṛtti (non-return, liberation from rebirth), and the other leading to punaḥ-āvṛtti (return), i.e., continued saṃsāra. Ethically, it frames human life as oriented toward choices and disciplines that culminate either in liberation or in repeated worldly becoming.
In the Bhīṣma Parva dialogue setting, Arjuna speaks while seeking clarity about ultimate outcomes and the order governing beings. He articulates a doctrinal point: the tradition recognizes two cosmic routes—bright and dark—by which beings depart, resulting either in final release or in return to birth and death.