Chapter 9, Verse 21
ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति | एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते ||९-२१||
te taṃ bhuktvā svargalokaṃ viśālaṃ kṣīṇe puṇye martyalokaṃ viśanti . evaṃ trayīdharmamanuprapannā gatāgataṃ kāmakāmā labhante ||9-21||
Meaning
9.21 They, having enjoyed the vast heaven, enter the world of mortals when their merit is exhausted; thus abiding by the injunctions of the ï1threeï1 (Vedas) and desiring (objects of) desires, they attain to the state of going and returning.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna completes the picture begun in the previous verse. Heaven, however vast and delightful, is not eternal. When the punya — the stock of merit earned through sacrifice — is spent, these souls fall back to the mortal world. Their reward, like a savings account, runs out. Bound to the trayi-dharma, the ritual code of the three Vedas, and driven by kama, desire, they obtain only gata-agatam: an endless 'going and returning.'
This is the Gita's diagnosis of all desire-driven spirituality. Heaven is simply a more refined turn of the same wheel of samsara. Pleasure earned must eventually be exhausted, and the soul is pulled back to begin again. The deeper teaching is unmistakable: as long as our practice is fuelled by craving for results, we remain caught in cycles. True liberation lies beyond all earning and losing, in union with the Divine itself.
💡 Key Takeaway
Any happiness we earn through desire eventually runs out; lasting freedom lies beyond the endless cycle of getting and losing.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं प्रवक्ष्याम्यनसूयवे | ज्ञानं विज्ञानसहितं यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात् ||९-१||
śrībhagavānuvāca . idaṃ tu te guhyatamaṃ pravakṣyāmyanasūyave . jñānaṃ vijñānasahitaṃ yajjñātvā mokṣyase.aśubhāt ||9-1||
9.1 The Blessed Lord said I shall now declare to thee who does not cavil, the greatest secret, the knowledge combined with experience (Self-realisation). Having known this thou shalt be free evil.
अश्रद्दधानाः पुरुषा धर्मस्यास्य परन्तप | अप्राप्य मां निवर्तन्ते मृत्युसंसारवर्त्मनि ||९-३||
aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya parantapa . aprāpya māṃ nivartante mṛtyusaṃsāravartmani ||9-3||
9.3 Those who have no faith in this Dharma (knowledge of the Self), O Parantapa (Arjuna), return to the path of this world of death without attaining Me.
त्रैविद्या मां सोमपाः पूतपापा यज्ञैरिष्ट्वा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते | ते पुण्यमासाद्य सुरेन्द्रलोक- मश्नन्ति दिव्यान्दिवि देवभोगान् ||९-२०||
traividyā māṃ somapāḥ pūtapāpā yajñairiṣṭvā svargatiṃ prārthayante . te puṇyamāsādya surendralokaṃ aśnanti divyāndivi devabhogān ||9-20||
9.20 The knowers of the three Vedas, the drinkers of Soma, purified of all sins, worshipping Me by sacrifices, pray for the way to heaven; they reach the holy world of the Lord of the gods and enjoy in heavn the divine pleasures of the gods.