Sanskrit
नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते । स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ॥
nehābhikramanāśo'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt
Translation
In this there is no loss of effort, nor is there transgression. Even a little of this knowledge protects from great fear.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A practical selling point for the path just announced: unlike ritual observances, which can be done wrong or left incomplete, nothing here goes to waste — even a small degree of this discipline is protective. It’s a deliberate contrast with the elaborate, failure-prone ritual system Krishna is about to critique in verses 42–44.
Concepts