Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 44
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 6 श्लोक 44

पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्यवशोऽपि सः।
जिज्ञासुरपि योगस्य शब्दब्रह्मातिवर्तते।।6.44।।



English Translation - Swami Gambirananda
6.44 For, by that very past practice, he is carried forward even in spite of himself! Even a seeker of Yoga transcends the result of the performance of Vedic rituals!


English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary
6.43 - 6.44 There, in that existence, he regains the mental disposition for Yoga that he had in the previous birth. Like one awakened from sleep, he strives again from where he had left before attaining complete success. He strives so as not to be defeated by impediments. This person who has fallen away from Yoga is borne on towards Yoga alone by his previous practice, i.e., by the older practice with regard to Yoga. This power of Yoga is well known.

Even a person, who has not engaged in Yoga but has only been desirous of knowing Yoga, i.e., has failed to follow it up, acries once again the same desire to practise Yoga. He then practises Yoga, of which the first stage is Karma Yoga, and transcends Sabda-brahman (or Brahman which is denotable by words). The Sabda-brahman is the Brahman capable of manifesting as gods, men, earth, sky, heaven etc., namely, Prakrti. The meaning is that having been liberated from the bonds of Prakrti, he attains the self which is incapable of being named by such words as gods, men etc., and which comprises solely of knowledge and beatitude.

After thus describing the glory of Yoga the verse says:


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 6.44Poorvaabhyaasena tenaiva hriyate hyavasho’pi sah;
Jijnaasurapi yogasya shabdabrahmaativartate.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 6.44pūrva—past; abhyāsena—discipline; tena—by that; eva—certainly; hriyate—is attracted; hi—surely; avaśhaḥ—helplessly; api—although; saḥ—that person; jijñāsuḥ—inquisitive; api—even; yogasya—about yog; śhabda-brahma—fruitive portion of the Vedas; ativartate—transcends