यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर्व्यतितरिष्यति । तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदं श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च ॥
yadā te moha-kalilaṃ buddhir vyatitariṣyati | tadā gantāsi nirvedaṃ śrotavyasya śrutasya ca ||
When your mind crosses the fog of delusion, you'll outgrow both past teachings and future ones.
Word by word (3)
- moha-kalilam
- — the bog/swamp of delusion · Kalila means swamp, marsh, or dense thicket — a vivid image of how delusion entangles. Moha from muh (to be confused, bewildered) is the fundamental confusion between the real and unreal, between Self and not-Self. The 'bog' image conveys how easily one sinks deeper rather than escaping.
- buddhiḥ vyatitariṣyati
- — your intellect will cross over · Vyatitariṣyati from vi+ati+tṛ (to cross fully beyond). The future tense is a promise from Krishna — not if, but when your buddhi crosses over. The crossing is not gradual escape but a decisive breakthrough — like breaking the surface of water after being submerged.
- nirvedam śrotavyasya śrutasya
- — disgust/indifference toward what is to be heard and what has been heard · Nirveda (from nir+vid) means a healthy disenchantment or vairāgya — the falling away of fascination with external authorities and scriptures once direct insight arises. Śrutasya (what has been heard) = past teachings; śrotavyasya (what is to be heard) = future scriptures. Both lose their compelling grip on the one who has seen directly.
When your intelligence finally crosses through the swamp of confusion, you will become disenchanted with all the teachings you've heard and all you might yet hear. Direct seeing makes scriptures secondary.
A modern analogy
A student who has spent years in therapy and self-help books, accumulating advice. Then one day — an insight arrives, not from a book but from direct seeing. Suddenly the compulsive book-reading stops, not because books are bad, but because the desperate need to find the answer outside has dissolved. That disenchantment is nirveda — healthy, liberating, not cynical.
Take with you
- Nirveda is not cynicism — it is the natural falling away of compulsive seeking once you have found.
- Direct insight does not invalidate scriptures or teachers; it simply puts them in right perspective.
- If you are still compulsively accumulating spiritual teachings, it may mean the moha-kalila (delusion-bog) is still present.
- The crossing of delusion is a breakthrough event, not a gradual fade. Notice when something shifts inside — that is buddhi breaking through.
V52 describes a pivotal inner event: the crossing of moha-kalila (the bog of delusion). In Advaita Vedanta, moha is the root error — the superimposition (adhyāsa) of ego-identity onto the pure Atman. When buddhi (discriminating intelligence) finally breaks through this superimposition, a profound disenchantment (nirveda) arises toward all external knowledge-systems — not because they are wrong but because the person has moved beyond dependence on secondhand testimony. Shankaracharya explains nirveda as vairāgya (dispassion) toward all that is heard — the Vedic promises of heavenly rewards, the scriptural dos and don'ts — because one who has seen directly has no more need of maps. This is not antinomianism (lawlessness) but the natural maturation of the spiritual path.
Modern parallels
Zen Buddhism describes 'the great doubt' that must be crossed — similar to moha-kalila — and the 'great death' of the ego before genuine insight (satori) arises. After satori, the Zen master no longer needs koans, though they may still teach them. In Western philosophy, Plato's allegory of the cave: the prisoner who escapes has no more need of the shadow-world's explanations.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
When thy understanding crosses over the delusion of indiscrimination, then thou wilt become indifferent to what has been heard and what is yet to be heard in the Vedas. [1]
When thy intellect shall cross the whirlpool of delusion, then shalt thou become indifferent to what has been heard and what is yet to be heard. [4]
When thine understanding shall cross the mire of delusion, then thou shalt reach indifference as to what has been heard and what is yet to be heard. [6]
When that thick gloom of thy delusion Is past, thy spirit shall despise to hear Of heavens and hells — what scripture saith — What hath been writ, what yet shall be. [7]
When thy understanding crosses the mire of delusion, then wilt thou become indifferent to what has been heard and to what is yet to be heard. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
When your mind — shaken by conflicting teachings — stands still in samādhi: that is yoga attained.
Knowing this you will not fall into delusion again — you will see all beings in the Self, and thus in Me.
O Pārtha, was this heard with one-pointed mind? O Dhanañjaya, has the delusion of ignorance been completely destroyed?
With mind attached, practising yoga, taking refuge in Me — hear how you shall know Me fully, without doubt.
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
Satisfied by knowledge and realisation, senses mastered, gold and mud equally seen — this is the true steadfast yogi.