Sanskrit
यः शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य वर्तते कामकारतः । न स सिद्धिमवाप्नोति न सुखं न परां गतिम् ॥
yaḥ śāstravidhim utsṛjya vartate kāmakārataḥ na sa siddhim avāpnoti na sukhaṃ na parāṃ gatim
Translation
He who, having cast aside the ordinances of the Scriptures, followeth the promptings of desire, attaineth not to perfection, nor happiness, nor the highest goal.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The chapter pulls back from hell and cosmology to a narrower, almost legalistic point: someone who discards scriptural injunction (śāstravidhi) and acts purely on desire (kāmakārataḥ) attains neither accomplishment, happiness, nor the highest goal. This verse directly sets up the opening question of Chapter 17 — Arjuna will ask what happens to someone who acts with real faith but skips the scriptural rulebook, and this verse’s blunt answer here — nothing good — is exactly the premise his question will push back against. It’s worth noting the text doesn’t distinguish between someone who ignores scripture out of laziness and someone who does so out of a differently-directed sincerity; that distinction is left for Krishna to draw later.