Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 40
नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते।
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात्।।
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात्।।
nehābhikrama-nāśo ’sti pratyavāyo na vidyate
svalpam apyasya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt
also searched as "nehabhikrama-naso 'sti pratyavayo na vidyate"
Translation
Here, there is no loss of effort, nor any accrual of evil. Even a little of this Dharma (called Karma Yoga) protects one from the great fear.
Vāṇi's rendering
On this path no effort is wasted and nothing backfires. Even a little practice protects from great fear.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नna | not (joined with iha as neha) |
| इहiha | here, on this path |
| अभिक्रम-नाशःabhikrama-nāśaḥ | loss of an effort once begun; wasted beginning (nāśo before ’sti) |
| अस्तिasti | there is |
| प्रत्यवायःpratyavāyaḥ | adverse result, a backfiring, harm from incomplete action |
| नna | nor |
| विद्यतेvidyate | is found, exists |
| स्वल्पम्svalpam | even a very little |
| अपिapi | even (joined with asya as apyasya) |
| अस्यasya | of this |
| धर्मस्यdharmasya | of this way of acting, this practice |
| त्रायतेtrāyate | protects, rescues |
| महतःmahataḥ | from great |
| भयात्bhayāt | fear, dread |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 40 mean?
Krishna tells Arjuna that acting without clinging to results carries no risk of waste. A ritual left unfinished is lost; this is not. Whatever you begin here stays with you, and even a small measure of it stands between you and the great fear — the dread of being trapped in endless wanting.
What is the great fear that even a little of this dharma protects from?
The dread underneath all the smaller dreads — of birth and death repeating, of a life spent chained to outcomes you cannot control. Krishna calls it mahato bhayāt. A little practice does not abolish it by argument. It loosens the grip that makes the fear possible.
What does nehabhikramanasosti pratyavayo na vidyate mean?
No effort begun on this path is lost, and nothing here rebounds against you. Abhikrama is the first step taken; nāśa is its wasting. Krishna denies both the waste and the backfire. You are not being asked to complete something perfectly. You are being asked to start.
Does this verse mean I can practise carelessly since nothing is wasted?
It means you can practise honestly without fear of failing. Carelessness is not the issue Krishna is addressing; paralysis is. Arjuna is frozen because every path looks ruinous. Krishna removes the ruin from the equation so that the small, imperfect, unfinished attempt becomes worth making today.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna's fear is not only of dying. It is of starting something he cannot finish — a war half-fought, a duty botched, the whole ruin on his hands. Every rite he knows works that way: complete it correctly or lose it, and a mistake costs worse than nothing. Krishna says this path is not built like that. What you begin here is already kept. There is no failed half of it, no penalty clause in the small print. So the question of whether you can sustain it never arises. Act once without grasping at the outcome. That much is already yours.