Bhagavad Gita — Dhyana Yoga, Shloka 41
Atma Samyama Yoga
प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकानुषित्वा शाश्वतीः समाः । शुचीनां श्रीमतां गेहे योगभ्रष्टोऽभिजायते ॥ ६.४१ ॥
prāpya puṇyakṛtāṁ lokān uṣitvā śāśvatīḥ samāḥ | śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yogabhraṣṭo 'bhijāyate || 6.41 ||
Having attained the worlds of the righteous and dwelling there for many years, one who has fallen from yoga is born again in the house of the pure and the prosperous.
“Having attained the worlds of the meritorious and dwelling there for many years, the one who has fallen from yoga is born in the house of the pure and prosperous.”
“Reaching the realms of those who have done merit and living there for long years, the yoga-deviated one is born in a household of the pure and fortunate.”
Traditional translations often harmonize ‘śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ’ as ‘pious and wealthy’; academic renderings prefer ‘pure’ and ‘prosperous/fortunate,’ leaving open whether ‘śrī’ is strictly material wealth or broader auspiciousness.
FAQs
It portrays supportive environments as consequential: prior disciplined effort is said to condition future circumstances favorable to renewed practice.
The verse connects incomplete yoga with post-mortem fruition of merit and subsequent rebirth in conducive conditions, aligning spiritual progress with karmic continuity.
It begins Kṛṣṇa’s account of what happens to the ‘yoga-bhraṣṭa’ (one who does not complete the path) after death.
Read non-literally, it suggests that good habits and values tend to generate better social and psychological contexts for future learning and self-regulation.