Chapter 6, Verse 44
पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्यवशोऽपि सः | जिज्ञासुरपि योगस्य शब्दब्रह्मातिवर्तते ||६-४४||
pūrvābhyāsena tenaiva hriyate hyavaśo.api saḥ . jijñāsurapi yogasya śabdabrahmātivartate ||6-44||
Meaning
6.44 By that very former practice he is borne on in spite of himself. Even he who merely wishes to know Yoga goes beyond the Brahmic word.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna deepens the consolation with a striking insight: the seeker is carried forward by his purva-abhyasa, his former practice, avasha api — even against his will. The momentum of past spiritual effort becomes a force in its own right, drawing him toward the path even when his present personality might prefer otherwise. The good he once did now does its own work upon him, an almost gravitational pull toward the Divine.
Then comes a remarkable claim: even the jijnasu — one who merely wishes to know yoga, the sincere inquirer who has not yet attained anything — already transcends the shabda-brahman, the realm of mere ritual and scriptural reward. The very aspiration toward true yoga lifts one above the level of those seeking only ceremonial merit. This is enormously encouraging: it means the wish itself has value, and the smallest sincere turning toward the spiritual already places one on higher ground. Past effort propels us, and present longing already elevates us.
💡 Key Takeaway
Even the mere sincere desire to know the spiritual already lifts you above ordinary seeking and carries you onward.
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
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.