मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् | नाप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः || १५ ||
mām upetya punar janma duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ
mām—Me; upetya—having attained; punaḥ—again; janma—birth; duḥkha-ālayam—place of suffering; aśāśvatam—temporary; na—never; āpnuvanti—attain; mahātmānaḥ—the great souls; saṁsiddhim—perfection; paramām—the highest; gatāḥ—having achieved.
“The great souls, having attained the highest perfection, never return to this temporary world of suffering; they have come to Me.”
The world is described as 'duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam'—the abode of suffering and impermanence. This is not pessimism but diagnosis. The Gītā does not say the world is evil; it says the world, when mistaken for the Ultimate, is the source of suffering. Liberation is the recognition that one is never bound.
The characterisation of the world as impermanent and filled with suffering is not meant to cause despair but to inspire urgency. Every loss, every disappointment, every moment of pain is the world reminding you of its fundamental nature—and inviting you toward what is not subject to these conditions.