The bright path is characterised by the terms ‘starting with light.’ The dark path is characterised by the terms ‘starting with smoke.’ By the bright path a man goes to the plane of no-return, but he who goes by the dark path returns again. In the Shruti both the bright and dark paths are said to be eternal in relation to Jñanis and doers of good actions of many kinds. This is corroborated in the text: ‘Those who know this and those who worship with faith do Tapas in the forest etc., they go to the light’ (Cha.U., 5.10.1), and ‘But those who in the village perform Vedic and secular acts of a meritorious nature and the giving of alms—they pass to the smoke’ (ibid., 5.10.3).