Gita 06.45 – Past-life attraction and present determination leads yogi to perfection
prayatnād yatamānas tu
yogī saṁśuddha-kilbiṣaḥ
aneka-janma-saṁsiddhas
tato yāti parāṁ gatim
(BG 06.45)
Word-to-word
prayatnāt — by rigid practice; yatamānaḥ — endeavoring; tu — and; yogī — such a transcendentalist; saṁśuddha — washed off; kilbiṣaḥ — all of whose sins; aneka — after many, many; janma — births; saṁsiddhaḥ — having achieved perfection; tataḥ — thereafter; yāti — attains; parām — the highest; gatim — destination.
Translation
And when the yogī engages himself with sincere endeavor in making further progress, being washed of all contaminations, then ultimately, achieving perfection after many, many births of practice, he attains the supreme goal.
Explanation
What is the point Krishna is conveying here? He is assuring Arjuna that the yogi will indeed attain perfection. Arjuna’s original question—ayatiḥ śraddhayopeto yogāc calita-mānasaḥ aprāpya yoga-saṁsiddhiṁ kāṁ gatiṁ kṛṣṇa gacchati—raised in Bhagavad-gītā 6.37, and elaborated in verses 6.38 and 6.39, concerns the fate of a sincere practitioner who becomes distracted and fails to complete the path.
In this verse, Krishna answers clearly: tato yāti parāṁ gatim — the yogi ultimately reaches the supreme destination. How does this unfold? Krishna explains that such a yogi, by sustained and determined endeavour, continues progressing even after deviation. Either they first attain heavenly realms and then return to take birth in a refined, spiritually favourable environment, or they take birth directly in a family of advanced spiritualists. In both cases, the yogi resumes and advances in their spiritual pursuit. Their journey is not lost; it is continued.
The impurities that caused diversion, deviation, or interruption are gradually removed. The essential effect of these impurities is misdirection. Just as a magnet naturally aligns with the north–south axis, the pure soul is naturally drawn toward Krishna. As the soul becomes increasingly purified, this innate attraction becomes stronger and clearer, and consciousness naturally aligns with Krishna.
Prahlāda Mahārāja expresses this when he says that just as his mind is irresistibly drawn to Lord Viṣṇu, similarly every living being’s consciousness can also be naturally drawn to the Lord when impurities are removed. To the degree that the coverings diminish, to that degree consciousness moves toward Krishna—and with that inner movement, our outer life also moves in that direction.
Thus, the entire process of yogic advancement can be understood as deepening attraction toward Krishna and increasing rejection of the impurities that distract us from Him. And this transformation occurs through both deliberate, conscious effort and the gradual, subconscious purification that arises from sustained spiritual practice.
Conscious endeavour means that when a yogī engages in yoga and sādhana, they deliberately attempt to fix the mind on Krishna. Whenever the mind wanders, the yogī intentionally withdraws it from those external objects and redirects it back to Krishna. This is exactly what Krishna instructs in 6.25–26: yato yato niścalati manaś cañcalam asthiram, tatas tato niyamyaitad ātmany eva vaśaṁ nayet — “Wherever and whenever the restless, unsteady mind wanders, bring it back under the control of the Self.”
Just before this, Krishna advises: śanaiḥ śanair uparamed buddhyā dhṛti-gṛhītayā, ātma-saṁsthaṁ manaḥ kṛtvā na kiñcid api cintayet — “Gradually, step by step, with determination and steady intelligence, fix the mind on Me and do not let it think of anything else.”
Through this conscious effort — fixing the mind on Krishna and pulling it away from distractions — the inner contaminations are gradually weakened. We observe the same principle in daily life: exposure and indulgence strengthen desires; restraint and non-indulgence weaken them. Someone who drinks every day will find their craving increasing. But if they stop drinking, over time the desire diminishes. Our choices shape the strength of our desires.
Thus, through deliberate endeavour and a mind inclined toward renunciation, purification takes place.
Alongside this conscious endeavour, there is also a subconscious effect. The more consistently we choose a particular direction, the more that choice becomes habitual. As it becomes a habit, the mind begins to move in that direction naturally, even without deliberate thought. The practice becomes internalized, and the tendency to choose Krishna becomes spontaneous.
Our reflexes can be trained. We can train ourselves to give something up or to cultivate a new practice; through such deliberate training we move gradually toward perfection — toward making the right choices to the best of our capacity. For a yogī who has practiced in previous lives, there are also deep subconscious impressions that push the mind naturally in the right direction, inclining it toward Krishna. This is the sense of hriyate hy avaśo ’pi saḥ mentioned in the previous verse — being drawn almost helplessly toward the Divine.
Here, Krishna highlights how both factors work together: the subconscious attraction toward transcendence and the conscious determination to move toward it. Through determined endeavour performed with a detached mind, the impurities that cause distraction are gradually eliminated. This purification may span many lifetimes, depending on the weight of one’s past conditioning and the seriousness of one’s present effort. But if the yogī remains steady on the path, the culmination is assured — the supreme destination will be attained.
Krishna does not explicitly define parāṁ gatim here. In the verses describing samādhi (6.20–23), He speaks of experiencing supreme happiness beyond the senses — a truth from which one never deviates. Later, in 6.32, He describes the highest yogī as one who sees all beings with equal vision — yogī paramo mataḥ. These earlier sections hint at the state of perfection. But the complete revelation of the supreme destination comes later in the Gītā, where Krishna declares that His own abode is the ultimate goal (for example, 15.6 and elsewhere).
At this point in the sixth chapter, however, Krishna has not yet focused on Himself; the emphasis remains on the process of yoga. Thus He concludes the section with a general but powerful assurance: through determined practice, even across many lifetimes if required, the yogī will undoubtedly attain parāṁ gatim — the supreme destination.
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