🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 9.21

Chapter 9 · राजविद्याराजगुह्ययोग · Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga · "The Royal Knowledge & Royal Secret" · Verse 21 of 34

ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं

क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति।

एव त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना

गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते।।9.21।।
— Bhagavad-Gītā 9.21 · Devanāgarī root text

🪷 English Translations

5 received English translations are available for this śloka. Each voice is labelled; no single rendering is presented as the Sanskrit itself.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 edition attribution in the received data
9.21 Yet although they enjoy the spacious glories of Paradise, nevertheless, when their merit is exhausted, they are born again into this world of mortals. They have followed the letter of the scriptures, yet because they have sought but to fulfill their own desires, they must depart and return again and again.
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
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.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
9.21 Bhuktva, after having enjoyed; tam, that: visalam, vast; svargalokam, heavenly world; te, they; visanti, enter into; this martyalokam, human world; ksine, on the exhaustion; of their punye, merit. Evam, thus, indeed; anuprapannah, those who follow in the manner described; trai-dharmyam, [A variant reading is trayi-dharmam.-Tr.] the rites and duties prescribed in the three Vedas-merely the Vedic rites and duties; and are kama-kamah, desirous of pleasures; labhante, attain; only gata-agatam, the state of going and returning, but never that of independence. This is the meaning.
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
9.21 After enjoying the spacious world of heaven, they return to the world of mortals when the meritorious Karma forming the cause of that experience is exhausted. Thus, lacking in the knowledge established in the Vedanta and desiring only the attainment of heaven etc., they who follow the teaching of the three Vedas on sacrificial rites, come and go. After enjoying the trifling and transient pleasures of heaven, they return to Samsara again and again. But the great souls meditating on Me, who am incomparably dear to them, attain boundless and unsurpassed bliss and do not return to Samsara. Sri Krsna desribes their distinguishing features:
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
9.21. Having enjoyed that vast world of heaven, they, when their merit is exhausted, enter the world of the mortals. Thus the persons, who long for pleasure and continuously take refuge in the code of conduct prescribed by the Three Vedas, attain the state of going and coming.

🪷 Hindi Translation · हिन्दी अनुवाद

Received Hindi rendering attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi rendering · source-data attribution
।।9.21।। वे उस विशाल स्वर्गलोकके भोगोंको भोगकर पुण्य क्षीण होनेपर मृत्युलोकमें आ जाते हैं। इस प्रकार तीनों वेदोंमें कहे हुए सकाम धर्मका आश्रय लिये हुए भोगोंकी कामना करनेवाले मनुष्य आवागमनको प्राप्त होते हैं।

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

5 received English commentary layers are available for this śloka. Open only the voice you wish to study.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
9.21 ते they? तम् that? भुक्त्वा having enjoyed? स्वर्गलोकम् heavenworld? विशालम् vast? क्षीणे at the exhaustion of? पुण्ये merit? मर्त्यलोकम् the world of mortals? विशन्ति enter? एवम् thus? त्रयीधर्मम् of the three Vedas? अनुप्रपन्नाः abiding by? गतागतम् the state of goind and returning? कामकामाः desiring desires? लभन्ते attain.Commentary When the accumulated merit (the cause of heavenly pleasures) is exhausted? they descend to this world. They come and go. They have no independence.The Dharma of the three Mere Vedic ritual? enjoined by the three Vedas. KamaKamah The people whose minds are filled with Vasanas or worldly tendencies.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
9.21 Bhuktva, after having enjoyed; tam, that: visalam, vast; svargalokam, heavenly world; te, they; visanti, enter into; this martyalokam, human world; ksine, on the exhaustion; of their punye, merit. Evam, thus, indeed; anuprapannah, those who follow in the manner described; trai-dharmyam, [A variant reading is trayi-dharmam.-Tr.] the rites and duties prescribed in the three Vedas-merely the Vedic rites and duties; and are kama-kamah, desirous of pleasures; labhante, attain; only gata-agatam, the state of going and returning, but never that of independence. This is the meaning.
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
9.21 After enjoying the spacious world of heaven, they return to the world of mortals when the meritorious Karma forming the cause of that experience is exhausted. Thus, lacking in the knowledge established in the Vedanta and desiring only the attainment of heaven etc., they who follow the teaching of the three Vedas on sacrificial rites, come and go. After enjoying the trifling and transient pleasures of heaven, they return to Samsara again and again. But the great souls meditating on Me, who am incomparably dear to them, attain boundless and unsurpassed bliss and do not return to Samsara. Sri Krsna desribes their distinguishing features:
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
9.20-21 Traividyah etc. Te tam etc. Of course, they worship Me (Vasudeva) alone. However, the action [like sacrifice] is limited (or is known [to them]) by their aspiration for heaven only. Hence, on account of the weakness is their own being (sattva), they condition the action solely by the result of the heaven. That is why their religious act leads to rirth and thus they attain the state of going and coming. But [on that account] it is not the inherent nature of the sacrifice to beget rirth. For instance :
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।9.21।। जिन्होंने तीनों वेदों के कर्मकाण्ड का अध्ययन किया हो और जो स्वर्गादि फल के प्रापक यज्ञयागादि के विधिविधान भी जानते हों? ऐसे लोग यदि सकाम भावना से श्रद्धापूर्वक उन कर्मों का अनुष्ठान करते हैं? तो वे स्वर्ग लोक को प्राप्त हो कर वहाँ दिव्य देवताओं के भोगांे को भोगते हैं।सोम नामक एक लता होती है? जिसका दूधिया रस यज्ञ कर्म में प्रयोग किया जाता है और यज्ञ की समाप्ति पर अल्प मात्रा में तीर्थपान के समान इसे ग्रहण किया जाता है। इस प्रकार सोमपा शब्द से अभिप्राय यज्ञकर्म की समाप्ति से समझना चाहिए। सकाम भावना से किये गये ये यज्ञकर्म अनित्य फल देने वाले होते हैं। भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण कहते हैं कि स्वर्ग को प्राप्त जीव पुण्य समाप्त होने पर मृत्युलोक में प्रवेश करते हैं।ऐसे अविवेकी कामी लोगों के प्रति भगवान् की अरुचि उनके इन शब्दों में स्पष्ट होती है कि वेदोक्त कर्म का अनुष्ठान कर? भोगों की कामना करने वाले? बारम्बार (स्वर्ग को) जाते और (संसार को) आते हैं।परन्तु जो पुरुष निष्काम और तत्त्वदर्शी हैं? उनके विषय में भगवान् कहते हैं --

🪷 Hindi Vyākhyā · हिन्दी व्याख्या

Received Hindi vyākhyā attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi vyākhyā · source-data attribution
।।9.21।। व्याख्या--'ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं ৷৷. कामकामा लभन्ते'--स्वर्गलोक भी विशाल (विस्तृत) है वहाँकी आयु भी विशाल (लम्बी) है और वहाँकी भोगसामग्री भी विशाल (बहुत) है। इसलिये इन्द्रलोकको विशाल कहा गया है।स्वर्गकी प्राप्ति चाहनेवाले न तो भगवान्का आश्रय लेते हैं और न भगवत्प्राप्तिके किसी साधनका ही आश्रय लेते हैं। वे तो केवल तीनों वेदोंमें कहे हुए सकाम धर्मों-(अनुष्ठानों-) का ही आश्रय लेते हैं। इसलिये उनको त्रयीधर्मके शरण बताया गया है।

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APA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. (n.d.). Bhagavad-Gītā 9.21. Vidhyāmitra. Retrieved 2026-08-18, from https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/9/21
Chicago: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 9.21." Vidhyāmitra. Accessed 2026-08-18. https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/9/21.
MLA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 9.21." Vidhyāmitra, 2026, https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/9/21.
Canonical reading URL: https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/9/21. This citation identifies Vidhyamitra's received digital witness; consult a named scholarly or printed edition when edition-specific authority is required.

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This page is rendered from the pinned 701-address witness documented on the Gītā index. Publication and search-indexing authorization for every bundled translation and commentary layer was confirmed on 4 August 2026; the exact received recension boundary remains disclosed separately.

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