6.40 No good is ever lost Krishna speaks
पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते
नहि कल्याणकृत्कश्िचद्दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति
pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśhas tasya vidyate
na hi kalyāṇa-kṛit kaśhchid durgatiṁ tāta gachchhati
There is no destruction for such a person, son of Pritha, either here or beyond. No one who does good ever comes to a bad end.
Explanation
No one who does good ever comes to a bad end.
There is no destruction for such a person, here or beyond — na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid durgatiṁ tāta gacchati.
And note the word tāta: dear one, the way you address a child. The single most consoling line in the Gita is delivered in the register of a parent.
Going further
Word by word
- śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
- the Supreme Lord said
- pārtha
- Arjun, the son of Pritha
- na eva
- never
- iha
- in this world
- na
- never
- amutra
- in the next world
- vināśhaḥ
- destruction
- tasya
- his
- vidyate
- exists
- na
- never
- hi
- certainly
- kalyāṇa-kṛit
- one who strives for God-realization
- kaśhchit
- anyone
- durgatim
- evil destination
- tāta
- my friend
- gachchhati
- goes
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No one who does good ever comes to a bad end.
Arjuna has asked what happens to someone who tries and fails — who has faith but is slack, and never arrives. It is a question about wasted effort, and the answer is the same one 2.40 gave: nothing is lost. The Gita returns to this more often than to almost anything else, which suggests it knew the fear was common.