Chapter 6, Verse 40
श्रीभगवानुवाच | पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते | न हि कल्याणकृत्कश्चिद् दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति ||६-४०||
śrībhagavānuvāca . pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśastasya vidyate . na hi kalyāṇakṛtkaścid durgatiṃ tāta gacchati ||6-40||
Meaning
6.40 The Blessed Lord said O Arjuna, neither in this world, nor in the next world is there destruction for him; none, verily, who does good, O My son, ever comes to grief.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna's answer is among the most comforting promises in all of scripture, and the tenderness of his address — tata, 'my dear child' — reveals the love behind it. He sweeps away Arjuna's fear at once: for the sincere seeker there is no destruction, neither in this world (iha) nor the next (amutra). The scattered-cloud fate Arjuna dreaded simply does not exist.
The reason given is a spiritual law of profound reassurance: na hi kalyana-krit kashchit durgatim tata gacchati — no one who does good ever comes to a bad end. Every step toward the Divine, however incomplete, is a kalyana, an act of true welfare, and the moral order of the universe ensures that such good is never lost. Effort on the spiritual path is not like a worldly gamble that can leave one empty-handed. It accumulates, it endures, it carries forward. This single verse has consoled seekers for millennia, assuring every struggling aspirant that no sincere effort toward goodness is ever wasted.
💡 Key Takeaway
No sincere effort toward goodness is ever wasted — one who does good never comes to a bad end.
Related Verses
अर्जुन उवाच | अयतिः श्रद्धयोपेतो योगाच्चलितमानसः | अप्राप्य योगसंसिद्धिं कां गतिं कृष्ण गच्छति ||६-३७||
arjuna uvāca . ayatiḥ śraddhayopeto yogāccalitamānasaḥ . aprāpya yogasaṃsiddhiṃ kāṃ gatiṃ kṛṣṇa gacchati ||6-37||
6.37 Arjuna said He who is unable to control himself though he has the faith, and whose mind wanders away from Yoga, what end does he, having failed to attain perfection in Yoga, mee,t O Krishna?
कच्चिन्नोभयविभ्रष्टश्छिन्नाभ्रमिव नश्यति | अप्रतिष्ठो महाबाहो विमूढो ब्रह्मणः पथि ||६-३८||
kaccinnobhayavibhraṣṭaśchinnābhramiva naśyati . apratiṣṭho mahābāho vimūḍho brahmaṇaḥ pathi ||6-38||
Swami Sivananda did not comment on this sloka
प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकानुषित्वा शाश्वतीः समाः | शुचीनां श्रीमतां गेहे योगभ्रष्टोऽभिजायते ||६-४१||
prāpya puṇyakṛtāṃ lokānuṣitvā śāśvatīḥ samāḥ . śucīnāṃ śrīmatāṃ gehe yogabhraṣṭo.abhijāyate ||6-41||
6.41 Having attained to the worlds of the righteous and having dwelt there for everlasting years, he who fell from Yoga is rorn in a house of the pure and wealthy.