Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya

Bg 8.26

śukla-kṛṣṇe gatī hy ete
jagataḥ śāśvate mate
ekayā yāty anāvṛttim
anyayāvartate punaḥ

Word for word: 

śukla — light; kṛṣṇe — and darkness; gatī — ways of passing; hi — certainly; ete — these two; jagataḥ — of the material world; śāśvate — of the Vedas; mate — in the opinion; ekayā — by one; yāti — goes; anāvṛttim — to no return; anyayā — by the other; āvartate — comes back; punaḥ — again.

Translation: 

According to Vedic opinion, there are two ways of passing from this world – one in light and one in darkness. When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns.

śukla-kṛṣṇe gatī hy ete, there are two ways of passing form this world 

ekayā yāty anāvṛttim, by one anāvṛttim, one will not come back 

anyayāvartate punaḥ, by another one we will come back

śukla-kṛṣṇe gatī hy ete, śukla refers to Sukla Paksha, kṛṣṇe refers to Krishna Paksha, gatī is passing.

jagataḥ śāśvate mate, these are the vedas which are śāśvate (eternal) gives this opinion. Mate is opinion.

There are two ways of departing but Srila Prabhupada quotes from the Srila Baladeva Vidhya Bhusan who is quoting from Vedanta Sutra Commentary from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (5.10.3–5). 

Srila Baladeva Vidya Bhusan analyses this quite extensively in his Govinda Bhasya Commentary, Srila Prabhupada also quotes none literally, not just this particular time, because often there is overlapping in time or contradictions may happen like it may say Utarayan means six months but within that we have to have day and we have night, so in Utarayan in Day time but what about if there is night in Utarayan or day in Dakshiayan, so what will happen there is lot of complications over here so literal understanding doesn’t really stand very scrutiny we go very seriously into it. So he gives an explanation that it is referring to Deities and is referring to Kala doesn’t necessarily refer to time only, kala can refer to time, it can also refer to path, and there are two paths of leaving the world and that is the way it is talked about here in this chapter ekayā yāty anāvṛttim, by one yogi not come back by other he will come back, so the whole point of this discussion is that actually there are lot of precise factors that have to be taken care of, so that one will attain success in spiritual journey. And if one will not take care of those one will not attend success. 

So Arjuna ask how I will take care of all these and Sri Krishna told Arjuna don’t bother so much about these.

End of transcription.