Shloka 17
नातप्ततपसा शक््य एष दिव्यो महारथ: । द्रष्ट वाप्यथवा स्प्रष्टमारोढुं कुत एव च,जिन्होंने तपस्या नहीं की है, वे इस महान् दिव्य रथका दर्शन या स्पर्श भी नहीं कर सकते, फिर इसपर आरूढ़ होनेकी तो बात ही क्या है?
Arjuna uvāca — nātaptatapasā śakya eṣa divyo mahārathaḥ | draṣṭum apy athavā spraṣṭum āroḍhuṁ kuta eva ca ||
Arjuna said: “This divine, great chariot cannot be beheld or even touched by one who has not undergone austerities; how much less could such a person ever mount it.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Access to the divine is framed as a matter of inner qualification: without tapas (austerity, disciplined effort, self-restraint), one lacks the fitness even to approach sacred or celestial realities—let alone to possess or command them.
Arjuna comments on a celestial chariot, emphasizing that it is not available to the unprepared. His statement sets a boundary of spiritual and moral eligibility: only those who have earned merit through austerity can even perceive or touch it, much less ride it.