अश्रद्धया हुतं दत्तं तपस्तप्तं कृतं च यत् ।असदित्युच्यते पार्थ न च तत्प्रेत्य नो इह ॥
aśraddhayā hutaṃ dattaṃ tapas taptaṃ kṛtaṃ ca yat |asad ity ucyate pārtha na ca tat pretya no iha ||
- अश्रद्धया · aśraddhayā
- without faith
- हुतम् · hutam
- offered (in fire)
- दत्तम् · dattam
- given
- तपः · tapaḥ
- austerity
- तप्तम् · taptam
- practiced
- कृतम् · kṛtam
- done
- असत् · asat
- unreal, of no account
- उच्यते · ucyate
- is called
- पार्थ · pārtha
- O Partha
- प्रेत्य · pretya
- after death, hereafter
- इह · iha
- here (in this world)
“Whatever is offered, given, or practiced — any deed at all — without faith is called asat, O Partha: it counts for nothing hereafter, nor here.”
— Original plain-language translation
The chapter's closing hammer-stroke: faithless acts are asat — unreal, void — bearing no fruit in either world. Technique without trust is hollow; this answers Arjuna's opening question in full circle. Faith is not decoration on the deed; it is the deed's soul.
— Reader's notes (original)