Shloka 38

अक्षरब्रह्मयोगः | Akṣara-Brahma-Yoga

The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman

Devanagari script

कच्चिन्नो भय वि भ्रष्टश्छिन्ना भ्रमिव नश्यति । अप्रतिष्ठो महाबाहो विमूढो ब्रह्मण: पथि

Transliteration

kaccin no bhaya-vibhraṣṭaś chinnā-bhram iva naśyati | apratiṣṭho mahābāho vimūḍho brahmaṇaḥ pathi ||

Translation

Arjuna dit : «Ne périt-il pas, tombé par crainte, tel un nuage déchiré—sans appui, ô toi aux bras puissants, égaré sur la voie de Brahman ?»

Word by Word

कच्चित्whether? (interrogative particle)

नःof us / our

भयात्from fear

विभ्रष्टःfallen away, deviated

छिन्नःcut off, severed

भ्रमिःa spinning top

इवlike, as

नश्यतिperishes, is ruined

अप्रतिष्ठःwithout support/standing, unstable

महाबाहोO mighty-armed one

विमूढःbewildered, deluded

ब्रह्मणःof Brahman / of sacred knowledge

पथिon the path

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Kṛṣṇa

Brahman (brahma)

cloud (abhra)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a moral-spiritual anxiety: if a seeker begins the discipline aimed at Brahman but becomes afraid and loses steadiness, does he end up ruined—unsupported and deluded? It highlights the ethical importance of courage, steadiness, and not abandoning the spiritual path midway.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna addresses Kṛṣṇa with a pointed doubt about the fate of one who undertakes the higher path (brahmaṇaḥ pathi) but then falters from fear and loses inner grounding. The imagery of a ‘severed cloud’ conveys drifting without support and the fear of spiritual failure.