क्षिप्रं भवति धर्मात्मा शश्वच्छान्तिं निगच्छति ।कौन्तेय प्रतिजानीहि न मे भक्तः प्रणश्यति ॥
kṣipraṃ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvacchāntiṃ nigacchati |kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati ||
Quickly he becomes one whose self is rooted in dharma, and he attains lasting peace. O son of Kunti, declare it with confidence: my devotee never perishes.
Explanation
Krishna continues from the previous verse, where even a person of very bad conduct who turns to him with undivided devotion is to be seen as good. Here he says such a person soon becomes one whose nature is aligned with dharma, right order and duty (dharmātmā), and finds lasting peace (śānti). He then urges Arjuna, called son of Kunti, to declare firmly that his devotee (bhakta) does not perish. Some commentators take "quickly" to mean an immediate inner change, while others read it as a process that unfolds as devotion matures.