Bhagavad Gita 6.45
Spoken by Krishna ☆ Key verse · Verse 45 of 47
प्रयत्नाद्यतमानस्तु योगी संशुद्धकिल्बिषः | अनेकजन्मसंसिद्धस्ततो याति परां गतिम् ||४५||
prayatnād yatamānas tu yogī saṃśuddhakilbiṣaḥ | anekajannasaṃsiddhas tato yāti parāṃ gatim || 45 ||
Striving through many births, fully purified, the yogi — perfected across lifetimes — reaches the highest goal.
Word by word (3)
- prayatnāt yatamānaḥ tu yogī saṃśuddha-kilbiṣaḥ
- — striving with diligent effort, the yogi — purified of sin/taint — · prayatnāt = with effort, diligently (prayatna = vigorous effort, determined exertion). yatamānaḥ = striving, making effort (present participle). tu = but, indeed (mild contrast/emphasis). yogī = the yogi. saṃśuddha = completely purified (saṃ + śuddha = fully clean, without remainder). kilbiṣa = sin, taint, impurity (same as V27's akalmaṣa — the taint has been completely purified). The portrait is of the yogi who has persisted through the V41-44 multi-lifetime arc: they have striven with diligent effort (prayatnāt yatamāna) and their taint is fully purified (saṃśuddha-kilbiṣaḥ) — corresponding to V27's akalmaṣa and V28's vigata-kalmaṣa.
- aneka-janma-saṃsiddhaḥ tataḥ yāti parāṃ gatim
- — perfected through many births, then goes to the highest goal · aneka-janma = many births (aneka = not one, many; janma = birth). saṃsiddha = perfected, fully accomplished (same root as saṃsiddhi of V37). tataḥ = then. yāti = goes (to). parāṃ gatim = the highest goal, the supreme destination (parā = highest, supreme; gati = going, destination). The culmination of the V40-45 arc: after no destruction (V40) + noble rebirth (V41-42) + recovery of former intelligence (V43) + saṃskāra momentum (V44) — the yogi is finally perfected across many births (aneka-janma-saṃsiddha) and reaches the paramā gati (highest goal). This is liberation — the completion of what began in V7's self-conquest and was described in V20-22's samādhi.
- aneka-janma / parāṃ gatim (the multi-lifetime arc complete)
- — many births / the highest goal — the V40-45 arc reaches its culmination · V45 closes the V40-45 sequence with its destination: parāṃ gati (the highest goal = liberation/mokṣa). The arc: V40 (no destruction) → V41-42 (noble rebirths) → V43 (intelligence recovery) → V44 (saṃskāra momentum) → V45 (many births completed, highest goal reached). The entire sequence answers V37's question with the most complete possible assurance: the sincere yogi who doesn't complete the path in one lifetime is not lost — they are on a multi-lifetime arc that inevitably reaches parāṃ gatim. 'Aneka-janma' (many births) is honest: it may not be quick. But 'parāṃ gatim' is certain: the destination is reached.
Striving with diligence, cleansed of every fault, the yogi — perfected through many lives — at last reaches the highest goal.
A modern analogy
A multi-year graduate program: the student may take occasional leaves of absence, may struggle and need extra time, but their genuine work accumulates. Eventually — perhaps years later than the initial plan — they graduate. This verse's multi-lifetime arc is the cosmic graduate program: many births, genuine effort, progressive purification, and ultimately: commencement.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does NOT say the path takes an unlimited, unspecifiable time. 'Aneka-janma' (many births) is a finite arc — it has a culmination, and this verse names it: parāṃ gatim (the highest goal). The path is long relative to one lifetime but is not infinite. The genuine effort of the fallen yogi's rebirths — reborn into a pure family, recovering the former intelligence, carried forward by past practice — accumulates toward a definite destination.
Take with you
- This verse resolves Arjuna's existential question completely. He had asked what fate awaits the faithful yogi who falls short through a wandering mind — and the answer is: they eventually DO complete the path, across the multi-birth arc that runs from rebirth in a pure family through being carried forward by past practice. The highest goal is the guaranteed destination for the genuine practitioner.
- This verse's 'aneka-janma' (many births) is also reassurance for the practitioner who cannot complete this lifetime: the path continues. Your current life's effort is one chapter of a longer story that ends in liberation.
- The three qualities of this verse's successful yogi: prayatnāt (diligent effort), saṃśuddha-kilbiṣa (fully purified of fault), aneka-janma-saṃsiddha (perfected across many births). Each quality is the fruit of the previous: effort → purification → perfection.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
Striving with diligent effort, the yogi — purified of taint — perfected across many births, then goes to the highest goal. [1]
The Yogi, striving assiduously, puri- fied of taint, gradually gaining perfection through many births, then reaches the highest goal. [4]
The Yogi strenuously struggling, cleansed from sin, perfected through many births, he then goeth to the highest path. [5]
But the Yogi who struggles and strives, cleansed from sin and perfected through many lives, attains the highest goal. [6]
And this last shall reach — yogi of careful striving, washed from sin, and many births perfecting — the highest bliss. [7]
The Yogi striving with diligence, purified from all sins, gradually gaining perfection through many lives, reaches the highest goal. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Past practice carries the yogi forward involuntarily — even the yoga-inquirer surpasses the Vedic ritualist.
The yogi surpasses the ascetic, the scholar, the ritualist — therefore, O Arjuna, be a yogi!
O Krishna — the faithful yogi who fell short of yoga's perfection through wandering mind: what is their destination?
The yogi practises constantly in solitude — alone, mind and body subdued, free from craving and possessiveness.
Practising thus always, with a controlled mind — the yogi reaches the supreme peace of nirvāṇa, abiding in the Supreme.
When the completely controlled mind rests serenely in the Self alone, free from all desire-pull — that is called yoga.
Verse 45 of 47 · back to Chapter 6