Sincere struggle matters.
Arjuna speaks to Krishna
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||
Use this verse when you feel you failed spiritually.
Meaning
Arjuna said: What happens to one who has faith but lacks discipline, whose mind falls away from yoga before attaining perfection?
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Arjuna asks what happens to the incomplete seeker.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
This verse speaks to everyone who starts practice but struggles to continue. Arjuna wants hope for sincere but inconsistent seekers.
Read the traditional commentary
Arjuna raises a question that has comforted countless seekers ever since. What becomes of the one who has shraddha — sincere faith — and sets out on the path, but is ayati, lacking in sustained effort, whose mind strays from yoga so that he dies without reaching perfection? It is the anxious worry of every aspirant who fears falling short: have I gambled everything and gained nothing?
The concern is poignant and very human. Such a person seems to fall between two stools — having renounced worldly pursuits for the spiritual goal, yet failing to attain that goal. Has he lost both worlds?
Arjuna gives voice to the fear that the spiritual path might be an all-or-nothing wager where partial effort leads to total ruin. This tender question opens the door to one of Krishna's most reassuring and beautiful teachings — that no sincere step toward the Divine is ever wasted, a promise that has steadied the hearts of seekers for ages.
In daily life
Do not assume a failed streak means failed spirituality.
A person who misses meditation for weeks can still restart with faith.
Try this today
Restart one abandoned practice today.
My sincere effort is not wasted.Reflect
Where have I fallen away from practice?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘काम् गतिम् कृष्ण गच्छति’ mean in this verse?
The Gita on doubt, in other chapters
- Verse 4.4 · ArjunaSincere questioning, free of both blind acceptance and cynical dismissal, is the doorway to deeper understanding.
- Verse 7.3To even seek the highest truth is rare; to know it in essence, rarer still — so treasure the longing when it stirs in you.
- Verse 10.16 · ArjunaThe sincere heart longs to perceive the Divine not only in abstraction but in the living splendour of creation.
- Verse 3.1 · ArjunaWhen spiritual ideals seem to clash with hard duties, bring the confusion into the open rather than using it as an excuse to retreat.
Swipe left for 6.38 · Fear of failure is natural on the path.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 6.37
Who says Bhagavad Gita 6.37, and to whom?
Arjuna speaks to Krishna in verse 6.37, in Chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga (Dhyana Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 6.37 mean?
Arjuna said: What happens to one who has faith but lacks discipline, whose mind falls away from yoga before attaining perfection? (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 6.37 for daily life?
Do not assume a failed streak means failed spirituality. A person who misses meditation for weeks can still restart with faith.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 6.37 mean?
अर्जुन उवाच — Arjuna said; अयतिः — one who lacks effort / cannot control himself; श्रद्धया उपेतः — endowed with faith; योगात् चलितमानसः — whose mind strays from yoga; अप्राप्य योगसंसिद्धिम् — not attaining perfection in yoga.
Where does verse 6.37 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 37 of 47 in Chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga. The next verse is 6.38.