Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 67
इदं ते नातपस्काय नाभक्ताय कदाचन।न चाशुश्रूषवे वाच्यं न च मां योऽभ्यसूयति।।
idaṁ te nātapaskyāya nābhaktāya kadācana
na cāśuśruṣave vācyaṁ na ca māṁ yo ‘bhyasūtayi
also searched as "idam te natapaskaya nabhaktaya kadacana"
Translation
Never should this be told by you to one who is not austere, who is not a devotee, nor to one who has no desire to listen, nor certainly to him who speaks ill of Me.
Vāṇi's rendering
Never speak the sacred teaching to one without discipline, without love, without the wish to listen — or to one who resents me.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| इदम्idaṁ | this — the teaching just given |
| तेte | by you |
| नna | not |
| अतपस्कायatapaskāya | to one without discipline, who has done no inner work (sandhi: na + atapaskāya) |
| नna | not |
| अभक्तायabhaktāya | to one without love, without devotion (sandhi: na + abhaktāya) |
| कदाचनkadācana | ever, at any time |
| नna | not |
| चca | and |
| अशुश्रूषवेaśuśrūṣave | to one with no wish to listen, who will not serve or attend (sandhi: ca + aśuśrūṣave) |
| वाच्यम्vācyaṁ | to be spoken |
| नna | not |
| चca | and |
| माम्māṁ | me |
| यःyaḥ | who, the one who (sandhi: yaḥ + abhyasūyati → yo 'bhyasūyati) |
| अभ्यसूयतिabhyasūyati | resents, carries spite, speaks ill |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 67 mean?
It sets a condition on speaking. Krishna tells Arjuna not to hand this teaching to one without discipline, without love, without the wish to listen, or to one who resents him. Not a punishment — a fact about hearing. Words land only where something is already reaching for them.
What does idam te natapaskaya nabhaktaya kadacana mean?
"This is never to be spoken by you to one without tapas, to one without bhakti." Tapas is the heat of sustained effort; bhakti is love. Where neither is present, the Gītā's final word sounds like mere advice. Krishna is protecting the teaching from being made small.
Isn't it unfair to keep spiritual teaching secret?
Nothing is being hidden. The verse names four kinds of deafness, not four kinds of caste or rank. Any one of them can end tomorrow the moment someone genuinely wants to listen. Arjuna himself arrived resentful and collapsing; what qualified him was that he asked.
How do I know if someone is ready to hear this?
They ask. Not politely, not as debate — they ask because something in their life has stopped working. Until then, silence is the kinder teaching. And the same measure holds for you: readiness is not how much you have read but how much you still want to know.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Right after "do not grieve" comes a fence. Krishna has just given the whole thing away, and now he says: not to everyone. This is not gatekeeping; it is a description of how hearing works. Words about surrender fall straight through a mind that has never held still, never loved anything, never wanted to listen. Arjuna qualifies because he asked — sat down in the middle of a war and asked. So the test is not worthiness but readiness, and readiness is mostly appetite. Before you carry this teaching to someone, notice whether they have asked. And notice whether you have.