Sanskrit
नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते । स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ॥
nehābhikramanāśo'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt
Translation
In this there is no loss of effort, nor is there transgression. Even a little of this knowledge protects from great fear.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A practical selling point for the path just announced: unlike ritual observances, which can be done wrong or left incomplete, nothing here goes to waste — even a small degree of this discipline is protective. It’s a deliberate contrast with the elaborate, failure-prone ritual system Krishna is about to critique in verses 42–44. Pratyavāya — the technical term for the demerit incurred by botching a Vedic rite — is exactly the anxiety Krishna says this path removes: there is no wrong way to have partly done it. The claim is repeated for bhakti at BG 9.30–BG 9.31.
Study deeper
Word by word
- nehābhikramanāśo'stiनेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति
- here no effort is lost (na + iha + abhikrama-nāśaḥ + asti)
- pratyavāyo na vidyateप्रत्यवायो न विद्यते
- no adverse result arises (pratyavāyaḥ + na + vidyate)
- svalpam apy asya dharmasyaस्वल्पं अप्य् अस्य धर्मस्य
- even a little of this dharma (svalpam + api + asya + dharmasya)
- trāyateत्रायते
- protects
- mahato bhayātमहतो भयात्
- from great fear (mahataḥ + bhayāt)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Krishna answers an objection Arjuna hasn’t voiced yet — the fear that trying and falling short would be worse than not trying. Addressing that unspoken hesitation before it surfaces suggests Krishna reads the real obstacle correctly: it isn’t that Arjuna disagrees with the teaching, it’s that he’s afraid of doing it imperfectly, and this verse is aimed squarely at removing that fear.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you're avoiding starting something because you're afraid of doing it incompletely or wrong, remember that partial, honest effort in the right direction is rarely wasted — the fear of imperfect execution is often a bigger obstacle than the task itself.
Professional
- When a team hesitates to adopt a new practice out of fear of doing it wrong at first, make explicit that partial, incremental adoption still has value — removing the fear of imperfection often unblocks more than more documentation does.
Family & Social
- When someone you're encouraging toward a healthier habit hesitates because they're afraid they'll fail at it, tell them plainly that a small, imperfect start still counts — that reassurance sometimes matters more than the instructions on how to do it.
Ask yourself
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