वेत्थ यदितोऽधि प्रजाः प्रयन्तीति न भगव इति वेत्थ यथा पुनरावर्तन्त३ इति न भगव इति वेत्थ पथोर्देवयानस्य पितृयाणस्य च व्यावर्तना३ इति न भगव इति ॥ ५.३.२ ॥
vettha yadito’dhi prajāḥ prayantīti na bhagava iti vettha yathā punarāvartanta3 iti na bhagava iti vettha pathordevayānasya pitṛyāṇasya ca vyāvartanā3 iti na bhagava iti || 5.3.2 ||
2. [Pravāhaṇa asked,] ‘Do you have any idea where, from this world, human beings go in heaven?’ ‘No, sir, I have no idea,’ [replied Śvetaketu]. ‘Do you know how they come back?’ ‘No, sir, I don’t.’ ‘Have you any idea where the two paths—the path of the gods and the path of the ancestors—part?’ ‘No, sir, I don’t know’.
Word-for-word explanation:
Vettha, do you know; yat, where; itaḥ, from this place; adhi, high up; prajāḥ, living beings; prayanti iti, go; na bhagavaḥ iti, no, revered sir, I don’t; vettha, do you know; yathā, the way; punaḥ āvartante iti, they come back; na bhagavaḥ iti, no, revered sir, I don’t; vettha, do you know; pathoḥ, of the two paths; devayānasya, the path of the gods; pitṛyāṇasya ca, and the path of the ancestors; vyāvartanā iti, where they part; na bhagavaḥ iti, no, revered sir, I don’t.
Commentary:
The path of the gods and the path of the manes both go the same way for some distance. They separate only towards the end. Śvetaketu did not know at what point they separate, nor did he know what path those who are reborn take while coming back to the earth.