Sincerity and effort will never be lost along the way.

Even if you start practicing Karma Yoga, will it be useless if you cannot complete it? Krishna says that in this path, effort is never wasted, and there is no need to fear the opposite result. According to the commentary, the impression of practice remains rooted in the heart, and becomes a force that allows one to restart from where they left off later.

And, it is said that even a small amount of practice can protect people from the great fear of repeating life and death. It doesn't become zero just because you didn't complete it. Even in a small step, there is meaning to change the direction of one's way of living and connect to the next step.

Japanese Translation from the Gita Press Edition - Chapter 2, Section 40: "The Effort of Karma Yoga is Never Lost."

In the previous section, the speaker introduced the subject of Karma Yoga and now proceeds to explain its greatness.

Sanskrit original text

नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते ।
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ॥ ४० ॥

Romanization

nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate |
svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt || 40 ||

In this path, which is the path of selfless action, effort is never lost. Also, there is no need to fear adverse consequences. Even just undertaking this practice a little can save people from the great fears of life and death. (40)

A person engaged in agriculture, after sowing seeds in their field, if they do not protect them or water them, the seeds will be lost. However, once Karma Yoga is practiced, even if it is interrupted before completion, it does not disappear. This is what is meant by "there is no loss of effort in the path of Karma Yoga."

The impression of practicing Karma Yoga takes root in the heart of the practitioner. And it encourages him to pick up the thread again from where he left off in the next life (VI.43-44). That practice is never lost. Therefore, the Lord calls it Sat (XVII.27).

Also, by saying "There is no fear of adverse results in this path," the speaker means: Actions produce either good or bad consequences only when they are motivated by some selfish desire. However, since Karma Yoga has no desires, it does not lead to any adverse consequences.

In worship offered to gods, ancestral spirits, or people in this world, if there is a mistake that displeases the object of worship, harm may befall the practitioner.

However, if rituals, offerings, ascetic practices, service, and other actions are performed selflessly and without ulterior motives, even if there is some error, no harm will occur.

Another example would be taking medicine to suppress a disease. However, if it is not the correct medicine, it can produce the opposite result and worsen the disease (VI.40). In contrast, the practice of Karma Yoga does not bring about such undesirable results.

In other words, even if the practice of yoga has not yet reached its completion and therefore cannot lead practitioners to the highest state of realization, those who follow this path will not be born into lower realms of creation.

Furthermore, they will not experience the suffering of hell as a result of bad deeds in past lives, nor will they suffer unintentional harm caused to living beings during rituals or other meritorious activities.

Moreover, they will not have their pleasures in this world or future lives taken away due to virtuous actions performed in past lives.

Such a practitioner, after death, will certainly reach the higher world that can only be attained by those who have performed virtuous deeds. And they will remain there for a long time, before being reborn into the home of devout and wealthy people, or in the family of a yogi. Furthermore, due to habits formed in previous lives, they will begin practicing yoga again (VI.41-44).

Here, the term Pratyavāya cannot be interpreted as an "obstacle" in the practice of Karma Yoga. Some people have interpreted it that way, but that is not appropriate. Contact with worldly pleasures obtained through past lives' karma, and association with incorrect, worldly, and untrustworthy people, can hinder the practice of Karma Yoga. However, selfless action itself never leads to undesirable results. Therefore, this phrase should be interpreted as meaning "there is no fear of opposite results," as we have taken it here, and Pratyavāya should not be considered an "obstacle."

The phrase "Asya Dharmasya," which means "of this path," undoubtedly refers to Karma Yoga.

It is contrasted with "Sankhya," meaning the path of knowledge, or Jnana Yoga, in the preceding verse, and represents the path of selfless action indicated by the term "Yoga."

Karmayoga is a compound word consisting of two elements: Karma and Yoga. In the scriptures, good deeds are called Karma, and mental tranquility is called Yoga (II.48). Therefore, performing duties prescribed in the scriptures according to one's varna, ashrama, nature, and circumstances, while maintaining a correct sense of equality, without being dominated by possessiveness, attachment, desires, anger, greed, delusion, etc., is what is called Karmayoga.

It is also called equal yoga, the yoga of wisdom, and furthermore, it is known by various names such as Tadartha-karma, Madartha-karma, and Mat-karma, which refer to actions performed for a specific purpose.

"Even a little practice of this discipline, namely karma yoga, protects one from great fear," the Lord indicates that:

When the practice of karma yoga reaches completion, at that very moment, a person comes face to face with God Himself, and divine realization is brought about.

Therefore, the glory of completed karma yoga cannot be praised enough.

However, even if one does not fully complete karma yoga, if a person can practice it to some extent, meaning that they have not yet reached the state of unwavering equanimity, but are able to maintain an equal attitude towards joy and suffering, success and failure, while performing their duties, then that itself has great significance. And if that attitude is stable at the moment of death, it will immediately lead to the realization of Brahman and guide one towards immersion in Brahman (II.72). Or, if one receives rebirth again, they will be encouraged to make further efforts and advance in practice, ultimately leading them to the attainment of the highest state (VI.41-45).

In this way, Karma Yoga will inevitably lead to the liberation of the practitioner, sooner or later. Even if someone performs the most magnificent rituals and charitable acts, endures severe austerities, makes vows, fasts, and pilgrimages for thousands of years with selfish motives, it cannot liberate a person from the ocean of existence, nor will it be able to do so in the future. However, even very simple and ordinary activities such as begging, fighting, agriculture, commerce, craftsmanship, and physical service, which are prescribed in the scriptures, if performed with an equal-mindedness and correct attitude, can liberate a person from the bonds of the world in an instant.

Because, regarding liberation, cultivating the correct attitude is more important than the act itself, and it precedes the act.

Selflessness, as its ultimate result, brings liberation from the world. It is never lost and does not produce other fruits until the final goal is achieved. Ultimately, it completely makes the practitioner selfless and leads to their salvation. Therefore, even a small amount of practice in Karma Yoga is considered to have such great glory.

There is no doubt that even a "small amount of practice" in Karma Yoga can bring about the liberation of the soul. However, there is no rule that this will happen within a certain period of time. No one knows whether liberation will occur in this life or in the next. This is because the "small amount of practice" gradually grows into the complete state of development of Karma Yoga, and at that time, liberation is brought to the soul as the ultimate fulfillment in the natural flow.

Therefore, those who desire to possess power and quickly attain their own greatest happiness should strive with the utmost sincerity and care to reach a state of perfect equanimity.

Among the sources of fear to which beings with bodies are exposed, the greatest is the fear of death. Therefore, the continuous cycle of life and death that repeats from eternity to eternity is the worst fear imaginable for the mind. In a later chapter, the author refers to this constantly recurring fear of life and death as the "Sea of Life and Death" (XII.7).

Just as countless waves appear and disappear in the ocean, in the sea of reincarnation, countless waves of life and death appear and disappear.

It might be possible to count the waves of the ocean. However, who can count the number of deaths that a Jiva goes through before attaining true knowledge about God? In reality, no one can do that.

Therefore, in this section, "protecting from great fear" means guiding one across the infinite ocean of reincarnation, which takes the form of death. In other words, it is about liberation from the bonds of life and death through immersion in Brahman, which embodies truth, knowledge, and bliss.