The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran

The Eternal Godhead ╯
might take the northern path which leads to immortality. In
the Gita and the Upanishads, this “northern path” has come to
signify that the soul has been released from karma and need
not be reborn. The southern path, by contrast, leads the soul
to a new birth in this world, a birth suitable to its karma. This
view of the soul’s journey after death has a primordial quality
about it, giving the feeling that it far predates even the Upanishads.
Perhaps it is a belief of very ancient times that found its
way into the Upanishads, which say that the spiritually ready
soul makes the journey of the northern route while those who
have only practiced rituals take the southern.
This chapter also briefly alludes to the Days and Nights
of Brahma. Brahma is the Creator of the Hindu trinity, who
brings forth the cosmos at the will of Vishnu. But Brahma in a
sense is not in control of this creative process. Just as day follows
night in eternal, unvarying rhythm, so does the entire
universe undergo cycles of creation, death, and new birth. As
the Day of Brahma dawns, the cosmos comes into being; as
the Day comes to an end, the entire creation dies and ceases
to exist. Then, for a Night as long as the cosmic Day, the universe
rests. It ceases to be – or, rather, it continues only in a
subtle, unmanifest form, a dream in the mind of Vishnu, who
lies sleeping on the waves of the cosmic ocean. Then, without
deviating from the eternal rhythm, the cosmos is reborn
when the Night is over. The new universe dawns, and Brahma
once again moves into his active, creative Day.
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