Gita 06.42 – Having past spiritual impressions reinforced in a present life is extremely fortunate
atha vā yoginām eva
kule bhavati dhīmatām
etad dhi durlabha-taraṁ
loke janma yad īdṛśam (Bg 6.42)
Word-for-word:
atha vā — or; yoginām — of learned transcendentalists; eva — certainly; kule — in the family; bhavati — takes birth; dhī-matām — of those who are endowed with great wisdom; etat — this; hi — certainly; durlabha-taram — very rare; loke — in this world; janma — birth; yat — that which; īdṛśam — like this.
Translation:
Or [if unsuccessful after long practice of yoga] he takes his birth in a family of transcendentalists who are surely great in wisdom. Certainly, such a birth is rare in this world.
Explanation:
In this verse, Kṛṣṇa continues to describe the destination of a yogī who is unable to attain perfection on the path of yoga. He presents two possible trajectories. The previous verse described the first: a person who has practiced yoga for some time but not achieved perfection attains the heavenly planets and, after enjoying there for a long time, takes birth on earth in a prosperous or brāhmaṇical family, where the yogī can resume spiritual practice.
Now Kṛṣṇa says:
atha vā yoginām eva: Alternatively, the yogī
kule bhavati dhīmatām: takes birth in a family of great spiritual intelligence.
‘Dhī’ refers to intelligence, and in this context, it denotes spiritual intelligence. ‘Kula’ means dynasty or lineage; thus, the yogī is born into a spiritually advanced family.
etad dhi durlabha-taraṁ: Such a birth is indeed extremely rare.
‘Durlabha’ means rare, while the superlative ‘durlabha-taraṁ’ means exceedingly or exceptionally rare.
loke janma yad īdṛśam: Such a birth in this world is very uncommon.
Kṛṣṇa states that the yogī may alternatively take birth in a family endowed with great spiritual intelligence. Such a birth in this world is extremely rare.
In general, our behavior is shaped by various factors that can broadly be classified into five categories. The first is our past-life karma, which manifests in many ways, including through our genes. The second is our upbringing. The third is our association—the kind of people we interact with. The fourth is our free will, and the fifth is the grace of God, which can manifest in extraordinary ways.
Thus, our behavior is influenced by all these factors. However, we always retain free will, which can counteract the effects of past-life karma, present upbringing, or even current association. However, these are powerful forces that strongly influence how we tend to use our free will. The exercise of free will, however, can be profoundly transformed through the practice of bhakti, which invokes the grace of Kṛṣṇa, which is omnipotent.
In this world, making spiritual advancement and attaining yogic perfection essentially requires that we consistently choose spirit over matter. We must choose what helps us grow spiritually, without succumbing to worldly temptations. But what ensures that we make such a choice?
Arjuna inquires about the yogī who is unable to persevere in this lifelong commitment. He says, yogāc calita-mānasaḥ (Bhagavad-gītā 6.37)—one whose mind has deviated from the path of yoga. In other words, the mind, instead of remaining fixed on the spiritual path, has wandered elsewhere.
Kṛṣṇa replies that in the next life, the advanced yogī will be born directly into a family of spiritually elevated persons. The advantage of such a birth is that the upbringing will be deeply spiritual, which greatly influences how one shapes oneself later in life.
If a soul takes birth in a family where the parents are serious spiritualists, the child receives spiritual impressions from the very beginning of life. This early exposure helps the child naturally develop a tendency to choose the spiritual over the material. Such a birth is exceedingly auspicious for the child’s spiritual progress in that lifetime.
Often, when our upbringing has been materialistic, we must struggle against the force of past impressions in order to practice bhakti. However, if our upbringing has been spiritual, we do not have to fight those impressions—rather, they work in our favor. Thus, within our inner landscape, when we try to move towards Kṛṣṇa, we are not going against the current of the inner river. Instead, that very current carries us towards Him.
Quite often, in our inner world, we find ourselves swimming upstream. The natural, default tendencies of our consciousness flow downward—toward matter and material gratification—and we struggle to counter this pull by lifting ourselves upward. It is indeed like swimming against the current. This downward flow of desire arises from the past impressions we carry—shaped by our previous associations, our upbringing, or the karma accumulated from past lives.
Gradually, as we practice bhakti with steadiness and over a long period, the inner current begins to reverse. Our desires become purified, and our consciousness naturally starts moving towards Kṛṣṇa. However, this transformation takes time. If, somehow, we already possess an inner disposition where our consciousness naturally flows towards Kṛṣṇa—where the inner current is already favorable—then that is indeed a great fortune.
That is what happens to a soul born in a spiritual family. In such a family, the upbringing is arranged so that the soul, now in an infant’s body, receives no materialistic impressions that would later need to be undone.
In this way, the soul’s spiritual prospects are greatly strengthened. When one is born in a spiritual family, one receives the support needed to use free will positively. With such guidance, one can take full advantage of the favorable inner current and continue moving steadily toward spiritual perfection.
Kṛṣṇa also says that birth in a spiritually intelligent family (kule dhīmatām) is extremely rare (durlabha-taraṁ). Why is that so? He explains in the next chapter (7.3): manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ—among thousands of people, only a few endeavor for perfection, and among those who strive, only a rare soul truly knows Kṛṣṇa.
Thus, those who actually know Kṛṣṇa are very few. Consequently, spiritually advanced people are also few in number, as most human beings are not genuinely interested in spiritual life. Only a few aspire for higher perfection, and even among them, those who come to understand Kṛṣṇa in truth are rarer still.
Because such spiritually enlightened souls are so rare, birth in a family of such souls is naturally extremely rare. Those who receive this opportunity are therefore most fortunate, and by recognizing this gift, they can use it to progress steadily towards Kṛṣṇa.
How the spiritual journey continues in this life after obtaining such a favorable birth will be explained in the next verse.
Thank you.
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