Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9, Verse 3

अश्रद्दधानाः पुरुषा धर्मस्यास्य परन्तप । अप्राप्य मां निवर्तन्ते मृत्युसंसारवर्त्मनि

aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya parantapa | aprāpya māṃ nivartante mṛtyusaṃsāravartmani

Translation

Persons having no faith in this Dharma, O harasser of thy foes, without reaching Me, remain verily in the path of the mortal world.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

aśraddadhānāḥ

unbelieving

puruṣāḥ

men

dharmasya

of duty

asya

(of) this

parantapa

O Parantapa

aprāpya

not having obtained

mām

me

nivartante

return

mṛtyusaṃsāravartmani

of death, (of) world, and, in the path

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Those who have no faith in this Dharma — viz., knowledge of the Self — those who do not believe in its existence or in its effects, the sinful who follow the doctrine of the Demons (Asuras), regarding the physical body itself as the Self — these greedy and sinful persons do not attain to Me, the Supreme Lord. They do not attain even to devotion (Bhakti) which is one of the paths leading to Me; they are sure to remain in the path of the mortal world, in that path only which leads to hell (naraka) and to the lower kingdoms of animals.