यत्र काले त्वनावृत्तिमावृत्तिं चैव योगिनः।
प्रयाता यान्ति तं कालं वक्ष्यामि भरतर्षभ।।8.23।।
।।8.23।।हे भरतवंशियोंमें श्रेष्ठ अर्जुन जिस काल अर्थात् मार्गमें शरीर छोड़कर गये हुए योगी अनावृत्तिको प्राप्त होते हैं अर्थात् पीछे लौटकर नहीं आते और (जिस मार्गमें गये हुए) आवृत्तिको प्राप्त होते हैं अर्थात् पीछे लौटकर आते हैं उस कालको अर्थात् दोनों मार्गोंको मैं कहूँगा।
Now the journey which is known as archir-adi or the path beginning with light which is common to the jijnasur the knower of atma tattva or soul realisation as well as the bhakta or loving devotee of the parama purusa the supreme personality. The Vedic scriptures declare that the archir-adi is the path by which both these types of aspirants travel at the time of death. It is the road travelled by which there is no returning to the worlds of mortals. The Vedic scriptures when explaining panca-agni-vidya the system of the five fires states: Those who have realised the atma or soul, those who meditate on the Supreme Lord with full faith, those who worship the Supreme Lord with bhakti or loving devotion. Those who do these activities alone in a private place reach the archi the deity of light, from there to the deity of day etc. as explained in the Chandogya Upanisad V.II-XV beginning tad ya ittham vidur. One who travels by the archi-adi path reaches Parabrahma the supreme being and thus returns not to the material worlds. This is confirmed in the Chandogya Upanisad IV.XV.IV beginning enan Brahma gamayati which states: He the servitor named Amanava to the appropriate demigod, escorts the souls who have achieved moksa or liberation from material existence to Brahmaloka from where they are no longer subjected to reincarnation in samsara the perpetual cycle of birth and death. Those who have realised the atma are not in the same category as those aspirants who diligently practice the para-vidya the supreme knowledge declared by Brahma because success in that is determined first by atma tattva or soul realisation. Otherwise if there was no difference between the two then it would have been unnecessary for Lord Krishna to mention the path leading to rebirth and the path leading to no rebirth. The Chandogya Upanisad V.IX.I states: Thus do the waters come to be designated as the Purusa in the fifth oblation. Those who have performed righteous deeds and those who have performed abominable deeds receive physical forms in conjunction and accordance with these activities and are fashioned out of the five elements in which water is predominant. The atma is not these forms but just embodied in these forms by the dictates of karma or reactions from past actions. So this is the distinction and those who understand the reality of atma in this way qualify for the archi-adi and achieving moksa or liberation no longer return to the realms of mortal existence. The conclusive understanding is that non-intelligent nature being material like the physical body is always fit to be discarded and the intelligent nature being spiritual like the atma is always fit to be embraced. Those who follow the spiritual nature and realise the atma travel the path of archi-adi and return not to samsara the perpetual cycle of birth and death. The previous passage that the servitor Amanava escorts the souls to Brahmaloka is applicable to both the followers of the spiritual nature being the jijnasuh or the soul seeker and the jnani the god seeker, as the meditation of the former consists of reflecting on the atma, devoid of matter without any material conceptions as being one with the brahman or the spiritual substratum pervading all existence,. This conforms with the Vedic axiom known as tat krata-nyaya or that similar efforts yield similar results; therefore when realisation of the brahman is the focus of ones aspirations then one devotes themselves to contemplation of the brahman. So the realisation of the brahman is achieved by dint of the aspirants contemplation on the brahman. How exactly is the jijnasur to contemplate the brahman is that they look at the brahman as ancillary to the atma which is the primary goal. Whereas the jnani meditates on the brahman as the effulgence of the Supreme Lord Himself and looks at the atma as ancillary to that, the Supreme Lord being the primary goal. Giving credence to the fact that the atma or soul is in reality part and parcel of the eternal ultimate Supreme Being as well as the brahman is verified in the Brihad- aranyaka Upanisad V.VII.XXII beginning ya atmani tisthan which states: The brahman abides in the atma, by whom the atma is the body.
