Chapter 6, Verse 43
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||
Meaning
6.43 Thee he comes in touch with the knowledge acired in his former body and strives more than before for perfection, O Arjuna.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna reveals the profound mechanism that makes spiritual effort permanent. In the new birth, the seeker regains his purva-dehika buddhi-samyoga — the spiritual understanding acquired in his former body. The wisdom earned in past lives is not lost at death; it is stored, and it reconnects with him, often appearing as an unaccountable natural affinity for the spiritual from a young age.
This explains why some souls are drawn to the inner path effortlessly, as though remembering rather than learning. And crucially, Krishna says he then strives bhuyah — even more than before. He does not start over from zero but resumes from where he left off, with the added momentum of fresh resolve. Spiritual progress, then, is cumulative across lifetimes, never erased. Every insight gained, every discipline practiced, becomes a permanent possession of the soul. This is deeply liberating: it means no sincere effort is ever truly interrupted, only carried forward into the next chapter of the journey.
💡 Key Takeaway
The spiritual progress you make is never lost — it carries forward and gives you a head start in the journey ahead.
Related Verses
ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रियः | युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः ||६-८||
jñānavijñānatṛptātmā kūṭastho vijitendriyaḥ . yukta ityucyate yogī samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ ||6-8||
6.8 The Yogi who is satisfied with the knowledge and the wisdom (of the Self), who has conered the senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a piece of stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonied (i.e., is said to have attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi).
युञ्जन्नेवं सदात्मानं योगी नियतमानसः | शान्तिं निर्वाणपरमां मत्संस्थामधिगच्छति ||६-१५||
yuñjannevaṃ sadātmānaṃ yogī niyatamānasaḥ . śāntiṃ nirvāṇaparamāṃ matsaṃsthāmadhigacchati ||6-15||
6.15 Thus always keeping the mind balanced, the Yogi, with the mind controlled, attains to the peace abiding in Me, which culminates in liberation.
तं विद्याद् दुःखसंयोगवियोगं योगसंज्ञितम् | स निश्चयेन योक्तव्यो योगोऽनिर्विण्णचेतसा ||६-२३||
taṃ vidyād duḥkhasaṃyogaviyogaṃ yogasaṃjñitam . sa niścayena yoktavyo yogo.anirviṇṇacetasā ||6-23||
6.23 Let that be known by the name of Yoga, the severance from union with pain. This Yoga should be practised with determination and with an undesponding mind.