Faith enables practice and progress.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
अश्रद्दधानाः पुरुषा धर्मस्यास्य परन्तप |अप्राप्य मां निवर्तन्ते मृत्युसंसारवर्त्मनि ||९-३||
aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya parantapa . aprāpya māṃ nivartante mṛtyusaṃsāravartmani ||9-3||
Use this verse when doubt prevents practice.
Meaning
Those without faith in this dharma do not attain Me and return to the path of death and worldly cycle.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Lack of faith keeps the seeker in repeated confusion.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna is not asking for blind belief, but for trusting practice. Without faith, the seeker never commits deeply enough to transform.
Read the traditional commentary
Having praised the teaching, Krishna sounds a sober note. Those who are ashraddadhana — lacking shraddha, that living faith which is openness to truth — cannot grasp this dharma. Without faith the door stays shut, not because the truth withholds itself, but because the heart refuses entry.
The consequence is described starkly: such persons, failing to attain the Divine, return to mrityu-samsara-vartmani, the well-worn road of repeated death and rebirth. Shraddha here is not blind belief but a trusting receptivity that allows one to begin the inner work at all. The verse is not a threat but a diagnosis: where there is no faith, there can be no realisation, and life keeps circling its familiar grooves of gain, loss, and return.
In daily life
Test wisdom sincerely instead of dismissing it without practice.
A person may try seven days of remembrance before judging whether it helps.
Try this today
Practice one teaching sincerely for seven days.
I test wisdom with sincere faith.Reflect
Where does lack of faith stop my practice?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘अश्रद्दधानाः’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on faith, in other chapters
- Verse 12.20Living this teaching with faith, holding God as your supreme goal, makes you exceedingly dear to Him.
- Verse 3.32Cynical fault-finding closes the door to growth — the refusal to even try wisdom, not lack of opportunity, is what keeps people bound.
- Verse 2.27Accept the inevitability of birth and death as natural law, and redirect the energy spent on grief toward present purposeful action.
- Verse 4.9Truly understanding the divine nature — not as theory but as living insight — frees us from endless cycles and unites us with it.
Swipe left for 9.4 · The Divine pervades and transcends the world.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 9.3
Who says Bhagavad Gita 9.3, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 9.3, in Chapter 9, Raja Vidya Yoga (Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 9.3 mean?
Those without faith in this dharma do not attain Me and return to the path of death and worldly cycle. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 9.3 for daily life?
Test wisdom sincerely instead of dismissing it without practice. A person may try seven days of remembrance before judging whether it helps.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 9.3 mean?
अश्रद्दधानाः — those without faith; पुरुषाः — persons / men; धर्मस्य अस्य — of this dharma; परन्तप — O scorcher of foes (Arjuna); अप्राप्य माम् — not attaining Me.
Where does verse 9.3 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 3 of 34 in Chapter 9, Raja Vidya Yoga. The next verse is 9.4.