6.44 Carried on without willing it Krishna speaks
पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्यवशोऽपि सः
जिज्ञासुरपि योगस्य शब्दब्रह्मातिवर्तते
pūrvābhyāsena tenaiva hriyate hyavaśho ’pi saḥ
jijñāsur api yogasya śhabda-brahmātivartate
Carried by that earlier practice, such a person is drawn on even without willing it. And even one who merely wishes to know of yoga goes beyond the letter of the scriptures.
Explanation
Carried on even without willing it.
avaśaḥ api — helpless, even so. The same word 8.19 used for beings swept through the cycle, here reversed: the momentum is now on your side.
And then the widest concession: even one who merely wishes to know of yoga has already gone beyond the letter of the scriptures.
Going further
Word by word
- pūrva
- past
- abhyāsena
- discipline
- tena
- by that
- eva
- certainly
- hriyate
- is attracted
- hi
- surely
- avaśhaḥ
- helplessly
- api
- although
- saḥ
- that person
- jijñāsuḥ
- inquisitive
- api
- even
- yogasya
- about yog
- śhabda-brahma
- fruitive portion of the Vedas
- ativartate
- transcends
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Carried by that earlier practice, such a person is drawn on even without willing it.
The phrase is avaśhaḥ api — helpless, even so. Practice is described here as accumulating a momentum that outlasts your intention to keep it up. For anyone who has fallen away from something and come back to find it still there, this is the verse.