{
  "verse_id": "8.26",
  "mūla": {
    "devanāgarī": "शुक्ल-कृष्णे गती ह्य् एते जगतः शाश्वते मते | एकया यात्य् अनावृत्तिम् अन्ययावर्तते पुनः",
    "iast": "śukla-kṛṣṇe gatī hy ete jagataḥ śāśvate mate | ekayā yāty anāvṛttim anyayāvartate punaḥ",
    "chapter_position": "Chapter 8 (Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga (The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman)), verse 26",
    "speaker": "Krishna",
    "addressed_to": "Arjuna"
  },
  "word_by_word": [
    {
      "surface_form": "śukla",
      "lemma": "śukla",
      "grammar": "compound (compound member)",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "शुक्ल"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "kṛṣṇe",
      "lemma": "kṛṣṇa",
      "grammar": "nominative feminine dual noun",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "कृष्णे"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "gatī",
      "lemma": "gati",
      "grammar": "nominative feminine dual noun",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "गती"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "hi",
      "lemma": "hi",
      "grammar": "",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "हि"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "ete",
      "lemma": "etad",
      "grammar": "nominative feminine dual noun",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "एते"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "jagataḥ",
      "lemma": "jagant",
      "grammar": "genitive neuter singular noun",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [
        {
          "sense": "इति अधिकृतानां ज्ञानकर्मणोः न जगतः सर्वस्यैव एते गती संभवतः शाश्वते नित्ये संसारस्य नित्यत्वात् मते अभिप्रेते",
          "school": "advaita",
          "weight": 0.8,
          "witnesses": [
            "shankara"
          ]
        },
        {
          "sense": "शाश्वतेऽनादी संमते संसारस्यानादित्वात्",
          "school": "bhakti",
          "weight": 0.8,
          "witnesses": [
            "sridhara"
          ]
        },
        {
          "sense": "सर्वस्यापि शास्त्रज्ञस्य शाश्वते अनादी मते संसारस्यानादि त्वात्",
          "school": "advaita-bhakti",
          "weight": 0.8,
          "witnesses": [
            "madhusudan"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "जगतः"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "śāśvate",
      "lemma": "śāśvata",
      "grammar": "nominative feminine dual noun",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [
        {
          "sense": "नित्ये संसारस्य नित्यत्वात् मते अभिप्रेते",
          "school": "advaita",
          "weight": 0.8,
          "witnesses": [
            "shankara"
          ]
        },
        {
          "sense": "मते। तद्य इत्थं विदुर्ये चेमेऽरण्ये श्रद्धां तप इत्युपासते तेऽर्चिषमभिसंभवन्ति। (छा0 उ 0 5।10।1)अथ य इमे ग्रामे इष्टापू",
          "school": "viśiṣṭādvaita",
          "weight": 0.8,
          "witnesses": [
            "ramanuja"
          ]
        },
        {
          "sense": "अनादी मते संसारस्यानादि त्वात्",
          "school": "advaita-bhakti",
          "weight": 0.8,
          "witnesses": [
            "madhusudan"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "शाश्वते"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "mate",
      "lemma": "√man",
      "grammar": "nominative feminine dual participle noun",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "मते"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "ekayā",
      "lemma": "eka",
      "grammar": "instrumental feminine singular noun",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [
        {
          "sense": "शुक्लया याति अनावृत्तिम् अन्यया इतरया आवर्तते पुनः भूयः",
          "school": "advaita",
          "weight": 0.8,
          "witnesses": [
            "shankara"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "एकया"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "yāti",
      "lemma": "√yā",
      "grammar": "present indicative 3rd person singular verb",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "याति"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "anāvṛttim",
      "lemma": "anāvṛtti",
      "grammar": "accusative feminine singular noun",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [
        {
          "sense": "अन्यया इतरया आवर्तते पुनः भूयः",
          "school": "advaita",
          "weight": 0.8,
          "witnesses": [
            "shankara"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "अनावृत्तिम्"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "anyayā",
      "lemma": "anya",
      "grammar": "instrumental feminine singular noun",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [
        {
          "sense": "इतरया आवर्तते पुनः भूयः",
          "school": "advaita",
          "weight": 0.8,
          "witnesses": [
            "shankara"
          ]
        },
        {
          "sense": "कृष्णया पुनरावर्तते सर्वोऽपि",
          "school": "advaita-bhakti",
          "weight": 0.8,
          "witnesses": [
            "madhusudan"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "अन्यया"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "āvartate",
      "lemma": "√āvṛt",
      "grammar": "present indicative 3rd person singular verb",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "आवर्तते"
    },
    {
      "surface_form": "punar",
      "lemma": "punar",
      "grammar": "",
      "senses_attested_in_panel": [],
      "theme_lists": [],
      "surface_devanagari": "पुनर्"
    }
  ],
  "intertextual_panel": [
    {
      "verse": "5.1",
      "type": "cross-chapter thematic parallel",
      "score": 0.9095,
      "feature_breakdown": {
        "cosine": 0.8495,
        "theme_graph": 1.0,
        "vocative": 0.0,
        "substring": 0.0,
        "lemma_overlap": 10.26,
        "stem_prefix": 5.0
      }
    },
    {
      "verse": "6.37",
      "type": "cross-chapter thematic parallel",
      "score": 0.8849,
      "feature_breakdown": {
        "cosine": 0.8449,
        "theme_graph": 1.0,
        "vocative": 0.0,
        "substring": 0.0,
        "lemma_overlap": 3.3898,
        "stem_prefix": 3.0
      }
    },
    {
      "verse": "6.41",
      "type": "cross-chapter thematic parallel",
      "score": 0.8843,
      "feature_breakdown": {
        "cosine": 0.8343,
        "theme_graph": 1.0,
        "vocative": 0.0,
        "substring": 0.0,
        "lemma_overlap": 8.9015,
        "stem_prefix": 4.0
      }
    },
    {
      "verse": "11.41",
      "type": "cross-chapter thematic parallel",
      "score": 0.8795,
      "feature_breakdown": {
        "cosine": 0.8295,
        "theme_graph": 1.0,
        "vocative": 0.0,
        "substring": 0.0,
        "lemma_overlap": 6.9231,
        "stem_prefix": 4.0
      }
    },
    {
      "verse": "14.27",
      "type": "long-distance thematic echo",
      "score": 0.8775,
      "feature_breakdown": {
        "cosine": 0.8275,
        "theme_graph": 1.0,
        "vocative": 0.0,
        "substring": 0.0,
        "lemma_overlap": 11.1607,
        "stem_prefix": 4.0
      }
    },
    {
      "verse": "6.34",
      "type": "cross-chapter thematic parallel",
      "score": 0.8771,
      "feature_breakdown": {
        "cosine": 0.8371,
        "theme_graph": 1.0,
        "vocative": 0.0,
        "substring": 0.0,
        "lemma_overlap": 4.4521,
        "stem_prefix": 3.0
      }
    },
    {
      "verse": "17.1",
      "type": "long-distance thematic echo",
      "score": 0.8754,
      "feature_breakdown": {
        "cosine": 0.8254,
        "theme_graph": 1.0,
        "vocative": 0.0,
        "substring": 0.0,
        "lemma_overlap": 3.132,
        "stem_prefix": 4.0
      }
    },
    {
      "verse": "15.12",
      "type": "lemma-family resonance",
      "score": 0.8754,
      "feature_breakdown": {
        "cosine": 0.8354,
        "theme_graph": 0.0,
        "vocative": 0.0,
        "substring": 0.0,
        "lemma_overlap": 9.3392,
        "stem_prefix": 4.0
      }
    }
  ],
  "doctrinal_projections": {
    "advaita": {
      "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)",
      "key_cross_references": [],
      "witness_passages": [
        "shankara_8.26",
        "anandgiri_8.26"
      ],
      "score": 0.5,
      "english_rendering": "These two cosmic paths — śuklā (bright, luminous with jñāna) and kṛṣṇā (dark, devoid of it) — are eternal because saṃsāra itself is beginningless. Śaṅkara insists the paths belong specifically to adhikārins (qualified practitioners) of jñāna-karma, not to all beings indiscriminately. By the bright path one attains anāvṛtti (non-return to rebirth); by the dark one returns again — and since Brahman alone is real, 'return' is re-immersion in avidyā-driven cycle.",
      "divergence_note": "Śaṅkara: 'ज्ञानप्रकाशकत्वात् शुक्ला तदभावात् कृष्णा' — bright because it illumines, dark through absence of that illumination; 'शाश्वते नित्ये संसारस्य नित्यत्वात्' — eternal because saṃsāra is eternal."
    },
    "viśiṣṭādvaita": {
      "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)",
      "key_cross_references": [],
      "witness_passages": [
        "ramanuja_8.26",
        "vedantadeshika_8.26"
      ],
      "score": 0.5,
      "english_rendering": "The bright path is arcirādi-gati (the path of flame, light, day, etc.) and the dark is dhūmādi-gati (smoke, night, etc.); Rāmānuja explicitly roots both in Chāndogya 5.10, confirming śruti-sanction. Those who worship Bhagavān with śraddhā and tapas in the forest travel the bright path to Brahmaloka and beyond; those performing iṣṭāpūrta in the village return by the dark. The distinction is not merely ritual but ontological — the bright path leads to Bhagavān's own realm, while the dark perpetuates dependent jīva existence.",
      "divergence_note": "Rāmānuja: 'शुक्लया अनावृत्तिं यान्ति कृष्णया तु पुनः आवर्तन्ते' and Chāndogya citation 5.10.1 and 5.10.3 — shruti confirms both paths as śāśvata."
    },
    "dvaita": {
      "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)",
      "key_cross_references": [],
      "witness_passages": [
        "madhva_8.26",
        "jayatirtha_8.26"
      ],
      "score": 0.5,
      "english_rendering": "*Śukla-kṛṣṇe gatī* — the bright and dark *gatī*s (paths) — are *śāśvate* (eternal), not contingent constructions. The *jagat* (world of transmigrating beings) is governed by these two paths because *pañca-bheda* (the five-fold real distinction) is never dissolved: *jīva* and *Īśvara* remain ontologically separate in all states. By the bright path, the *jīva* reaches *anāvṛtti* (non-return) — arrival in Viṣṇu's *nitya-dhāma* (eternal abode) — not through any autonomous capacity but through Hari's *anugraha* (grace), which alone breaks the *jīva*'s *paratantra* (eternal dependence on the Lord) loose from *saṃsāra*'s pull. By the dark path, *āvartate punaḥ* (it returns again): *karma* and the absence of *bhakti* as ontological subordination return the *jīva* to rebirth. The two paths are *śāśvata* (eternal and real), not provisional *māyā*-constructs — their eternality reflects the real, graded *taratamya* (ontological hierarchy) that obtains between *svatantra* Hari and all *paratantra* souls.",
      "divergence_note": "No Madhva or Jayatīrtha bhāṣya survives for this verse; the reading derives directly from core dvaita-siddhānta applied to the mūla — pañca-bheda, taratamya, and Hari-anugraha as the sole basis of anāvṛtti.",
      "provenance": "siddhānta_reconstruction"
    },
    "śuddhādvaita": {
      "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)",
      "key_cross_references": [],
      "witness_passages": [
        "vallabha_8.26"
      ],
      "score": 0.5,
      "english_rendering": "Vallabha reads the two paths as rooted in the nature of light and darkness themselves: śuklā is prakāśamaya (made of light, of Kṛṣṇa's own svarūpa-śakti), kṛṣṇā is tamomaya (suffused with tamas). The concluding upasaṃhāra (summary) of this mārga-dvaya signals that all path-talk is ultimately Kṛṣṇa's own līlā — the bright path is not earned but gifted as prasāda to those in Bhagavān's puṣṭi (nourishing grace).",
      "divergence_note": "Vallabha: 'उभयोः प्रकाशतमोमयत्वाद्भेदः' — the distinction between the two paths is grounded in their being made of light and darkness respectively."
    },
    "bhakti": {
      "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)",
      "key_cross_references": [],
      "witness_passages": [
        "sridhara_8.26"
      ],
      "score": 0.5,
      "english_rendering": "Śrīdhara names the bright path arcirādi (light-series) and the dark dhūmādi (smoke-series), calling them the domains of jñāna-karma-adhikārins respectively, both paths anādi (beginningless) like saṃsāra itself. The bright leads to mokṣa as nivṛtti; the dark to punar-āvṛtti (re-return). Śrīdhara's balanced voice holds both paths as śāśvata-sammata — eternally recognized by śruti — without privileging one over the other, leaving open that the genuine bhakta transcends the binary.",
      "divergence_note": "Śrīdhara: 'एते गती मार्गौ ज्ञानकर्माधिकारिणो जगतः शाश्वतेऽनादी संमते संसारस्यानादित्वात्' — both paths are beginningless and śruti-sanctioned."
    },
    "advaita-bhakti": {
      "reading_summary": "(reading summary extraction pending; ENABLE_READING_SUMMARIES=true to generate)",
      "key_cross_references": [],
      "witness_passages": [
        "madhusudan_8.26"
      ],
      "score": 0.5,
      "english_rendering": "Madhusūdana reads śuklā as ज्ञानप्रकाशमयी (luminous with jñāna-light) and kṛṣṇā as ज्ञानहीनतमोमयी (darkness born of jñāna-absence) — explicitly linking epistemological illumination to the cosmological path. He broadens the adhikāra to include 'all who know the śāstra' (शास्त्रज्ञस्य), not just specialists. His synthesis holds: the bright path is for saguṇa-vidyā and karma practitioners who nonetheless orient toward Brahman, while the dark path captures all who act without that orientation — the synthesis leaves bhakti as the fastest route to śuklā-gati.",
      "divergence_note": "Madhusūdana: 'ज्ञानप्रकाशमयत्वात् ... ज्ञानहीनत्वेन तमोमयत्वात्' and 'सगुणविद्याकर्माधिकारिणोः जगतः सर्वस्यापि शास्त्रज्ञस्य' — jñāna-light vs jñāna-absence as the operative distinction."
    }
  },
  "prosodic_information": {
    "meter": "anuṣṭubh",
    "meter_shift_from_previous": false,
    "meter_shift_to_next": false,
    "pragmatic_context": {
      "vocative": "",
      "preceding_question": "",
      "following_response": ""
    }
  },
  "theme_list_memberships": [
    {
      "list": "कृष्ण",
      "role": "supporting",
      "other_verses_in_list": [
        "1.1",
        "1.28",
        "1.29",
        "1.30",
        "1.32",
        "1.41",
        "5.1",
        "6.34",
        "6.37",
        "6.39",
        "8.25",
        "11.35",
        "11.41",
        "17.1",
        "18.75",
        "18.78"
      ]
    },
    {
      "list": "शाश्वत",
      "role": "supporting",
      "other_verses_in_list": [
        "1.43",
        "2.20",
        "6.41",
        "8.15",
        "10.12",
        "10.13",
        "11.18",
        "14.27",
        "18.56",
        "18.62"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "audit_trail": {
    "substrate_version": "v2.6-frozen",
    "fitted_weights": {
      "a": 1.0,
      "b": 0.01,
      "e_v": 0.005,
      "z": 0.2,
      "h": 0.0,
      "th": 0.01
    },
    "corpus_provenance": {
      "mūla": "Belvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness",
      "panel_witnesses": [
        "bg-mula",
        "bg-shankara",
        "bg-ramanuja",
        "bg-madhva",
        "bg-vedantadeshika",
        "bg-vallabha",
        "bg-jayatirtha",
        "bg-anandgiri",
        "bg-sridhara",
        "bg-madhusudan"
      ]
    },
    "extraction_date": "2026-04-21",
    "score_methodology_documented_at": "Paper 1, Section II.B",
    "word_by_word_parser": "ByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)",
    "post_generation_repairs": [
      {
        "date": "2026-05-03",
        "fix": "verb-lemma-misidentification (broader heuristic: prefix-√root canonical for all verb-tagged tokens)",
        "scope": "word_by_word[].lemma",
        "loci": [
          "mate: man -> √man",
          "yāti: yā -> √yā",
          "āvartate: āvṛt -> √āvṛt"
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "so_what_questions": [
    "If both paths are śāśvata (eternal), is saṃsāra itself eternal — and what does that imply for the urgency of choosing a path in this birth?",
    "Śaṅkara restricts the paths to jñāna-karma-adhikārins; Madhusūdana broadens to 'all who know śāstra' — who actually qualifies, and does qualification itself determine which path one travels?",
    "The bright path ends in anāvṛtti (non-return); the dark ends in punar-āvṛtti (return). Is non-return a destination or the cessation of destination-seeking entirely?",
    "Rāmānuja roots both paths in Chāndogya 5.10 (śraddhā-tapas in the forest vs iṣṭāpūrta in the village) — does this mean contemplatives and householders are structurally sorted onto different cosmic trajectories?",
    "Vallabha frames śuklā as Kṛṣṇa's own prakāśa-śakti and kṛṣṇā as tamas — if liberation is a gift of prasāda not an earned outcome, what is the role of effort in a puṣṭi-mārga life?",
    "If the bhakta 'transcends the binary' (per Śrīdhara's implicit logic and the preceding verse 8.27), what is the practical marker that distinguishes transcending the binary from simply being confused about which path one is on?",
    "All six schools agree on the structural asymmetry (one path returns, one does not) — does that consensus itself constitute a testable claim about cosmic architecture, or is it a soteriological metaphor?"
  ],
  "everyday_applications": {
    "advaita": "In daily decision-making, apply Śaṅkara's jñāna-criterion: before an action, ask whether it increases āloka (inner lucidity) or deepens tamaḥ (inertia and veiling). Career moves, relationships, and habits that build viveka (discrimination) are śuklā-class; those that increase dependency, confusion, or mechanical repetition are kṛṣṇā-class. The goal is not to avoid the dark path morally but to recognize it as the structural mechanism of saṃsāric repetition — and to prefer actions that illuminate.",
    "viśiṣṭādvaita": "Rāmānuja's śraddha-tapas vs iṣṭāpūrta distinction maps cleanly to modern life: contemplative practice (meditation, study, retreat) is arcirādi-class; transactional religious performance (donating for prestige, ritual for social standing) is dhūmādi-class. The practical discipline is to examine the orientation of your sādhana — does it move toward Bhagavān as the locus of all action, or does it loop back to social self-construction? Shift the orientation, not necessarily the activity.",
    "dvaita": "The Dvaita practitioner cultivates radical dependence on Hari — the bright path is not achievable by self-effort alone but opens through surrender and service. Practically: build daily habits of Hari-smaraṇa (remembrance), and when evaluating choices, ask 'does this deepen my orientation toward Hari or strengthen the illusion of self-sufficiency?' The dark path is not sinful action but the subtle posture of acting as if the jīva were independent.",
    "śuddhādvaita": "Vallabha's insight that śuklā is prakāśamaya means that any act saturated in Kṛṣṇa-bhāva (the feeling-sense of Kṛṣṇa's presence) is itself luminous — cooking, music, conversation. The practical application is to infuse mundane acts with rasa (aesthetic-devotional flavor) rather than treating them as spiritually neutral. The dark path is not wickedness but rasa-śūnyatā (the flatness of acts done without Kṛṣṇa-orientation) — and the antidote is cultivating wonder and beauty in daily life as prasāda.",
    "bhakti": "Śrīdhara's balanced reading suggests that the genuine bhakta should neither be anxious about which path they are on nor complacent. The practical discipline is self-audit: at week's end, assess whether your primary activities were oriented toward nivṛtti (disengagement from compulsive craving) or pravṛtti (unreflective accumulation). This is not renunciation of worldly life but a regular recalibration — asking whether the direction of travel is toward liberation or deeper entanglement.",
    "advaita-bhakti": "Madhusūdana's jñāna-light criterion suggests a two-register audit: intellectual clarity (Am I understanding what is happening in my life, or reacting habitually?) and devotional orientation (Is this action an expression of love for the divine, or is it self-serving?). The synthesis means neither cool detachment nor emotional fervor alone suffices — the bright-path life pairs discernment with bhakti. Practically: pair daily meditation with honest self-inquiry; neither alone clears the path."
  },
  "primary_meaning": "These two paths through the world, bright and dark, are held to be eternal: by one a person goes and does not return; by the other they return again."
}