Bhagavad Gita 6.41

prāpya puṇya-kṛtāṁ lokān

uṣitvā śāśvatīḥ samāḥ

śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe

yogabhraṣṭo ’bhijāyate

 

“Reaching the realms where the righteous stay,

Dwelling in celestial joys for many a day,

The fallen yogi takes new birth,

In a home of virtue and noble worth.”

 

My dear Lord, when striving on the spiritual path, if I fall to my lower desires, you are so kind that you do not hold such a fall against me. You do not even hold against me those lower desires that still hold me in their grip.

Instead, you are so merciful, my Lord, that you provide for such desires, granting an opportunity for their fulfillment in a far better setting than the present one.

You want me to become convinced for myself that such desires cannot provide any substantial happiness.

That is why, you, my Lord, you offer opportunities to have them fulfilled in heavenly domains, where the enjoyment is far greater gratification than what is possible here.

When my desires are thus fulfilled abundantly, and when I learn through direct first-hand experience that such fulfillment does not lead to the fulfillment of my heart, that is when I gain the conviction to break free from their spell—finally, firmly, fully.

No longer can they delude me with the excuse that maybe the objects I had were not good enough and that if I had better objects, I would be able to get satisfying enjoyment.

Once those lower desires are cast aside, you, my Lord, mercifully grant me birth in a conducive home to reactivate and re-cultivate my higher desires for spiritual growth.

***

06.41 The unsuccessful yogī, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.