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Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-yoga · 47 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps

1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.

Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›

Questions & crisisChapter 6 · Dhyāna-yoga

6.37 6.39

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 6.38

Arjuna asks about spiritual failure

Kāla · Time

कच्च‍िन्नोभयविभ्रष्टश्छिन्नाभ्रमिव नश्यति ।

अप्रतिष्ठो महाबाहो विमूढो ब्रह्मण: पथि ॥ ३८ ॥

kaccin nobhaya-vibhraṣṭaś

chinnābhram iva naśyati

apratiṣṭho mahā-bāho

vimūḍho brahmaṇaḥ pathi

Translation

O mighty-armed Kṛṣṇa, does not such a man, who is bewildered from the path of transcendence, fall away from both spiritual and material success and perish like a riven cloud, with no position in any sphere?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Fear of Losing Both

1
The verse asks Kṛṣṇa whether someone who strays from spiritual life loses both material and spiritual success, like a broken cloud.
2
Prabhupāda explains that spiritual life requires giving up material pursuits and so-called material happiness, so failure seems to mean losing both.
3
Follow bhakti-yoga, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the direct spiritual path. One who surrenders to Kṛṣṇa achieves spiritual success.

Key points from the purport

These notes cover verses 6.37–39

Arjuna inquires about the fate of one fallen from the path of self realization. Is he a failure, both materially and spiritually?

One may begin the process with faith, but later desist due to worldly mindedness (6.37)

Analogy: Does such a man perish like a riven cloud with no position in any sphere? (6.38)

Arjuna expresses that only Krishna can dispel this doubt completely (6.39)

PLEASE below NOTE: Purports for Texts 6.37 — 6.39 are presented in their individual ‘Focus of Learning’ boxes

Basic principle of self-realisation

Knowledge that the living entity is not this material body

He is different from the body and his happiness is in eternal life, bliss and knowledge

This eternal like is transcendental, beyond both body and mind

How to pursue self-realisation — 3 possible paths:

Path of knowledge (Jnana-yoga)

Practice of eight-fold yoga system (Astanga-yoga)

Devotional service (Bhakti-yoga)

Similarities in these paths

In each of these processes one has to realize:

The constitutional position of the living entity

His relationship with God

And the activities whereby he can re-establish the lost link and achieve the highest perfectional stage of Krishna consciousness

All 3 processes assure success sooner or later (This reassures the point made in Bg. 2.40:

“Even a little endeavor on the transcendental path offers great hope for deliverance”

Bhakti-yoga is the most suitable path in this age — Because it is the most direct method of God realisation

Why does Arjuna ask this question — Although Bg. 2.40 provides full guarantee on the transcendental path, still Arjuna wants to be reassured because one may sincerely accept the process but still fail for many reasons

Especially the jnana-marg and the astanga-yoga are very difficult for this age

First of all one may not be sufficiently serious about following the process

Even after constant endeavor one may deviate because to pursue the transcendental path is more or less to declare war on the illusory energy

Importance of “Yogac calita-manasah” — Deviation from transcendental path

A conditioned soul is always allured by the modes of material energy

And there is every chance of being allured again even while performing transcendental disciplines

Connected verses · 1

Texts 6.37 & 6.38

Arjuna clarifies his question in the next verse

The Destination Of The Unsuccessful Yogi

Unsuccessful transcendentalists obtain either heavenly enjoyment followed by an aristocratic birth(if they are slightly advanced) or birth in a family of wise transcendentalists that bring them immediate further training (if they are more advanced)

Chapter 6, section V: The Destination Of The Unsuccessful Yogi