🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 6.38

Chapter 6 · ध्यानयोग · Dhyāna-Yoga · "The Yoga of Meditation" · Verse 38 of 47

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कच्चिन्नोभयविभ्रष्टश्छिन्नाभ्रमिव नश्यति।

अप्रतिष्ठो महाबाहो विमूढो ब्रह्मणः पथि।।6.38।।
— Bhagavad-Gītā 6.38 · the yathārtha śloka (Devanāgarī Sanskrit · canonical)

🪷 English Translations

Five authentic English voices · each from a distinct sampradāya · together revealing the verse's full śabda-tattva.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 · public domain · Cosmo Press tradition
6.38 Having failed in both, my Lord, is he without hope, like a riven cloud having no support, lost on the spiritual road?
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
6.38 Fallen from both, does he not perish like a rent cloud, supportless, O mighty-armed (Krishna), deluded on the path of Brahman?
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
6.38 Mahabaho, O Mighty-armed one; ubhaya-vibhrastah, fallen from both, having fallen from the Path of Action and the Path of Yoga; apratisthah, without support; vimudhah, deluded-having become deluded; brahmanah pathi, on the path of Brahman, on the path leading to Brahman; kaccit na, does he not; nasyati, get ruined; iva, like; a chinna-abhram, scattered cloud? Or is it that he does not?
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
6.37 - 6.39 Arjuna said What way does he go, who has embarked on Yoga endowed with faith, but who by inadeacy of exertion in practice, does not gain success in Yoga and has his mind wandering from Yoga? Does he not perish like a small piece of cloud torn from a large mass of cloud - perish without reaching another large mass of cloud? Now does he not fall away from both (sides)? He has no support and is confused on the path leading to the Brahman. He is without any support in the sense that Karma or rituals which constitutes the means of heaven etc., does not give support for a person who is devoid of attachment to fruits; for Karma is the means for generating its own fruits. He is also confused in the path leading to the Brahman on which he has just begun to traverse; He has lost his way. Does he then get lost by falling down from both sides, these being attainment of heaven on the one hand and liberation on the other. Does he not thus perish? You should remove this doubt altogether from my mind; for there is no other remover of this doubt than You, who always perceive directly all matters simultaneously.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
6.38. Does he, fallen from both, get lost like a broken cloud ? Or, O mighty-armed ! having no support, does he meet total destruction ?

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

The classical commentary tradition rendered in English · each ācārya speaks from their own sampradāya · the seer chooses the depth of darśana.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
6.38 कच्चित् is it that न not? उभयविभ्रष्टः fallen from both? छिन्नाभ्रम् rent cloud? इव like? नश्यति perishes? अप्रतिष्ठः supportless? महाबाहो O mightyarmed? विमूढः deluded? ब्रह्मणः of Brahman? पथि in the path.Commentary Both the path of Karma or the path of ritualistic activity in accordance with the Karma Kanda of the Vedas on the one hand and the path of Yoga on the other.Path of Brahman the path by which Brahman can be reached or the way that leads to Brahman.The Yoga taught by the Lord here demands onepointed devotion to its practice. The aspirant turns away from the world and spurns heaven? too. Some people held that if he failed to attain the goal? he would have lost everything for nothing. Hence the estion.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
6.38 Mahabaho, O Mighty-armed one; ubhaya-vibhrastah, fallen from both, having fallen from the Path of Action and the Path of Yoga; apratisthah, without support; vimudhah, deluded-having become deluded; brahmanah pathi, on the path of Brahman, on the path leading to Brahman; kaccit na, does he not; nasyati, get ruined; iva, like; a chinna-abhram, scattered cloud? Or is it that he does not?
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
6.37 - 6.39 Arjuna said What way does he go, who has embarked on Yoga endowed with faith, but who by inadeacy of exertion in practice, does not gain success in Yoga and has his mind wandering from Yoga? Does he not perish like a small piece of cloud torn from a large mass of cloud - perish without reaching another large mass of cloud? Now does he not fall away from both (sides)? He has no support and is confused on the path leading to the Brahman. He is without any support in the sense that Karma or rituals which constitutes the means of heaven etc., does not give support for a person who is devoid of attachment to fruits; for Karma is the means for generating its own fruits. He is also confused in the path leading to the Brahman on which he has just begun to traverse; He has lost his way. Does he then get lost by falling down from both sides, these being attainment of heaven on the one hand and liberation on the other. Does he not thus perish? You should remove this doubt altogether from my mind; for there is no other remover of this doubt than You, who always perceive directly all matters simultaneously.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
6.38 See Comment under 6.39
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।6.38।। सम्भव है कि ब्रह्म प्राप्ति के मार्ग पर चलता हुआ कोई श्रद्धावान् साधक मृत्यु का ग्रास बन जाए अथवा पर्याप्त संयम के अभाव में योग से पतित हो जाए। उसके पतन को दर्शाने के लिए जो अत्यन्त उपयुक्त और प्रभावोत्पादक दृष्टान्त अर्जुन के मुख से महर्षि व्यासजी ने दिया है उसे प्राय साहित्यिक क्षेत्र में उद्धृत किया जाता है।कभीकभी ग्रीष्म ऋतु में पर्वतों के पार्श्व भाग से कोई छत्रवत् मेघमालिका ऊर्ध्वदिशा में उठती हुई दृष्टिगोचर होती है। परन्तु तीव्र वेग से प्रवाहित वायु के स्पर्श से वह मेघ खण्ड अनेक छोटेछोटे मेघखण्डों में विभक्त हो जाता है। ये मेघखण्ड पूर्णतया प्रबल वायु की दया पर आश्रित इतस्तत लक्ष्यहीन भ्रमण करते रहते हैं। ग्रीष्म ऋतु के ये मेघ न कृषकों की अपेक्षाएं पूर्ण कर सकते हैं और न तृषितों की पिपासा को ही शान्त कर सकते हैं। किसी सुरक्षित स्थान को न प्राप्त कर अन्त में वे स्वयं भी नष्ट हो जाते है। अर्जुन का प्रश्न है कि क्या योगभ्रष्ट पुरुष की गति भी उस मेघ के समान ही नहीं होगीअर्जुन यह प्रश्न क्यों पूछता है वह स्वयं ही इसका कारण बताता है

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सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)