Chapter 6, Verse 42
अथवा योगिनामेव कुले भवति धीमताम् | एतद्धि दुर्लभतरं लोके जन्म यदीदृशम् ||६-४२||
athavā yogināmeva kule bhavati dhīmatām . etaddhi durlabhataraṃ loke janma yadīdṛśam ||6-42||
Meaning
6.42 Or he is born in a family of even the wise Yogis; verily a birth like this is very difficult to obtain in this world.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna describes an even more fortunate possibility for the one who fell from yoga: rather than merely a prosperous home, he may be born directly into a kula of dhimat yogis — a family of wise spiritual practitioners. To grow up surrounded by realized seekers, steeped from infancy in an atmosphere of practice and wisdom, is an extraordinary blessing for the continuation of one's inner journey.
Krishna calls such a birth durlabhatara — exceedingly rare, harder to obtain than any worldly fortune. This reverses ordinary human valuation: what the world prizes as good fortune is wealth and status, but the Gita ranks a birth into spiritual company far higher. For the advanced seeker, the most precious circumstance is not comfort but proximity to truth and to those who live it. The fallen yogi, having already advanced far, may be granted this rarest of gifts — to be born where the path is already known and honored, so he may resume his climb with the least delay.
💡 Key Takeaway
The rarest good fortune is to be born among the wise and devoted, where the spiritual path is already alive.
Related Verses
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||
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.
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.
तत्र तं बुद्धिसंयोगं लभते पौर्वदेहिकम् | यतते च ततो भूयः संसिद्धौ कुरुनन्दन ||६-४३||
tatra taṃ buddhisaṃyogaṃ labhate paurvadehikam . yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ saṃsiddhau kurunandana ||6-43||
6.43 Thee he comes in touch with the knowledge acired in his former body and strives more than before for perfection, O Arjuna.