Sanskrit
कच्चिदेतच्छ्रुतं पार्थ त्वयैकाग्रेण चेतसा । कच्चिदज्ञानसम्मोहः प्रणष्टस्ते धनञ्जय ॥ ७२ ॥
kaccid etac chrutaṃ pārtha tvayaikāgreṇa cetasā kaccid ajñāna-sammohaḥ praṇaṣṭas te dhanañjaya
Translation
Hath this been heard, O son of Prithâ, with one-pointed mind? Has thy delusion, caused by unwisdom, been destroyed, O Dhananjaya?
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Krishna’s teaching ends not with a final statement but with a direct question back to his student: has this been heard with a one-pointed mind, and has delusion born of unwisdom actually been destroyed? It’s a pointed structural choice — eighteen chapters of philosophy conclude by refusing to declare their own success, leaving that verdict entirely to Arjuna’s next words. Krishna’s closing question checks the one thing that matters: is the ajñāna-sammoha — the delusion Arjuna named at BG 1.30 — gone? The whole teaching was aimed at that.
Study deeper
Word by word
- kaccid etac chrutaṃ pārthaकच्चिद् एतच् छ्रुतं पार्थ
- has this been heard by you, O Pārtha (kaccit + etat + śrutam + pārtha)
- tvayaikāgreṇa cetasāत्वयैकाग्रेण चेतसा
- with a one-pointed mind (tvayā + eka-agreṇa + cetasā)
- kaccid ajñāna-sammohaḥकच्चिद् अज्ञान-संमोहः
- has the delusion of ignorance (kaccit + ajñāna-sammohaḥ)
- praṇaṣṭas te dhanañjayaप्रणष्टस् ते धनञ्जय
- been destroyed for you, O Dhanañjaya (praṇaṣṭaḥ + te + dhanañjaya)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Krishna asks two separate questions, not one: was this heard with a focused mind, and has the delusion actually gone. The two aren’t assumed to be the same achievement — you can pay full, one-pointed attention to something and still walk away just as confused as before. Checking both separately concedes that comprehension and transformation aren’t the same event.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- After you've given something your full attention — a book, a hard conversation, a therapy session — check separately whether it actually changed anything in you, since paying attention and actually shifting are two different achievements, not one.
Professional
- After a team fully engages with a retrospective or training, verify separately whether behavior actually changed, not just whether attention was paid — engagement and real change are distinct outcomes and one doesn't guarantee the other.
Family & Social
- After a serious conversation where someone in your family listened closely, check later whether anything actually shifted for them, rather than assuming full attention in the moment was the same as real change.
Ask yourself
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