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Chapter 9 · The Most Confidential Knowledge · 34 verses

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Liberation & destinyChapter 9 · The Most Confidential Knowledge
9.209.22

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 9.21

The temporary results of heavenly attainment

ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं

क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति ।

एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना

गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते ॥ २१ ॥

te taṁ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṁ viśālaṁ

kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti

evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā

gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante

Translation

When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

Heavenly Pleasure Does Not Last

  1. 1Those seeking heavenly pleasure through the three Vedas return to earth when their pious rewards run out, facing repeated birth and death.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that without understanding Kṛṣṇa, the cause of all causes, one keeps moving between higher and lower planets.
  3. 3Aim for the spiritual world, where life is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, with no return to material suffering.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 9, The Most Confidential Knowledge: the temporary results of heavenly attainment.

What it teaches

Theme summary

The soul's true destination is eternal.

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Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: mokṣa, dhāma.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 9.21 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to liberation & destiny?

Practice

Reflect on what you want to remember at life's end.

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Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 9.20The temporary results of heavenly attainment

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.