Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 6, Verse 44

पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्यवशोऽपि सः । जिज्ञासुरपि योगस्य शब्दब्रह्मातिवर्तते

pūrvābhyāsena tenaiva hriyate hyavaśo'pi saḥ | jijñāsurapi yogasya śabdabrahmātivartate

Translation

By that very former practice is he borne on, though unwilling. Even he who merely wishes to know of Yoga rises superior to the Word-Brahman.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

pūrvābhyāsena

by former, (by) practice

tena

(by) that

eva

even

hriyate

is swept away

hi

indeed

avaśaḥ

helpless

api

also

saḥ

he

jijñāsuḥ

wishing to know

api

also

yogasya

of yoga

śabdabrahma

sound-Brahman

ativartate

goes beyond

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

The man who failed in Yoga is borne on towards perfection by the force of the practice of the former birth. If he had done no unrighteous deed (adharma) which could overpower the tendency caused by the practice of Yoga, then, certainly, the tendency of Yoga prevails. If adharma be stronger, then, even the tendency born of Yoga is certainly overpowered by adharma. But on the exhaustion of adharma the tendency caused by Yoga begins to produce its effects: it is not liable to destruction though it may have long been in abeyance. Thus he who works in the path of Yoga, only wishing to know its nature, will free himself from the Word-Brahman (Śabda-Brahman), from the effects of the observance of Vedic Karma: what need is there to say that he who knows Yoga and practises it in steady devotion will be free from its effects?