Verse 9.3
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
अश्रद्दधानाः पुरुषा धर्मस्यास्य परन्तप | अप्राप्य मां निवर्तन्ते मृत्युसंसारवर्त्मनि ||३||
Transliteration (IAST)
aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya parantapa aprāpya māṁ nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani
Word-by-Word Meanings
aśraddadhānāḥ-those without faith
puruṣāḥ-persons
aprāpya-without attaining
mām-Me
nivartante-return
mṛtyu-saṁsāra-cycle of death and rebirth
Translation
Those who have no faith in this dharma, O scorcher of foes, without attaining Me, return to the path of death and rebirth in this material world.
Commentary
This verse establishes the consequence of faithlessness - continued bondage in saṁsāra. The word 'aśraddadhānāḥ' points not to intellectual doubt but to a fundamental unwillingness to trust the divine. Faith (śraddhā) is presented as the gateway to liberation.
Themes
bhaktimokshadharma