Sanskrit
मच्चित्तः सर्वदुर्गाणि मत्प्रसादात्तरिष्यसि । अथ चेत्त्वमहङ्कारान्न श्रोष्यसि विनङ्क्ष्यसि ॥ ५८ ॥
mac-cittaḥ sarva-durgāṇi mat-prasādāt tariṣyasi atha cet tvam ahaṅkārān na śroṣyasi vinaṅkṣyasi
Translation
Thinking on Me, thou shalt overcome all obstacles by My grace: but if from egoism thou wilt not listen, thou shalt be destroyed utterly.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A promise and a warning arrive in the same breath: thinking on Krishna overcomes every obstacle by his grace, but refusing to listen out of egoism (ahankara) leads to utter destruction. The stakes are stated starkly, without the qualifications the earlier philosophical chapters allowed for — this is rhetoric built for a decision, not an argument built for reflection. The stakes stated plainly: mat-prasādāt tariṣyasi — “by grace you will cross every hard place” — or, ahaṅkārāt, from ego, you refuse to hear, and vinaṅkṣyasi, “you will be lost.” The choice is Arjuna’s; BG 18.63 hands it back to him.
Study deeper
Word by word
- mac-cittaḥ sarva-durgāṇiमच्-चित्तः सर्व-दुर्गाणि
- fixed on Me, all obstacles (mat-cittaḥ + sarva-durgāṇi)
- mat-prasādāt tariṣyasiमत्-प्रसादात् तरिष्यसि
- by My grace you shall cross (mat-prasādāt + tariṣyasi)
- atha cet tvam ahaṅkārānअथ चेत् त्वं अहङ्कारान्
- but if, from egoism, you (atha + cet + tvam + ahaṅkārāt)
- na śroṣyasi vinaṅkṣyasiन श्रोष्यसि विनङ्क्ष्यसि
- will not listen, you shall perish (na + śroṣyasi + vinaṅkṣyasi)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Everywhere else in this closing sequence — the ladder built in verses 70 and 71, the multiple paths named across the whole text — the Gita makes room for gradation. This verse doesn’t: it collapses the outcome to a single binary, listen or don’t, overcome every obstacle or be destroyed utterly. Placed next to a text this comfortable with nuance, the starkness itself is the signal that something urgent, not incremental, is being asked.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Most of your growth can happen gradually, but notice the rare moments that are actually binary — whether you listen to a hard truth about yourself right now or not — and don't apply incremental thinking to a decision with no middle setting.
Professional
- Most change management should be graded and incremental, but recognize the handful of moments — a safety call, a point of no return — where the choice is genuinely binary, and don't soften that framing just because nuance served you elsewhere.
Family & Social
- Most disagreements benefit from patience and gradual movement, but notice the rare conversation where the choice really is binary — listen now or lose the chance — and don't dilute that moment with the nuance that serves you the rest of the time.
Ask yourself
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