वीतरागभयक्रोधा मन्मया मामुपाश्रिताः । बहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूता मद्भावमागताः ॥
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ | bahavo jñāna-tapasā pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ ||
Many, freed from attachment, fear, and anger, purified by knowledge-austerity — have attained My being.
Word by word (3)
- vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhāḥ
- — freed from attachment, fear, and anger · Vīta = gone, departed (vi+ita = gone away). Rāga = attachment (from rañj). Bhaya = fear (from bhī). Krodha = anger (from krudh). The three inner obstacles — attachment, fear, and anger — are precisely the triad that blocks V9's tattvataḥ knowing. Their departure is the precondition for the knowledge that liberates.
- man-mayāḥ mām upāśritāḥ
- — absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me · Man-maya = filled with Me, absorbed in Me (man = Me + maya = filled with). Upāśrita = having taken refuge (upa+āśrita, from śri = to resort to, to take shelter). The double orientation: inner absorption (man-maya) and outer taking-refuge (upāśrita). Both the inward and relational dimension of bhakti.
- bahavaḥ jñāna-tapasā pūtāḥ mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ
- — many, purified by the austerity of knowledge, have attained My being · Bahavaḥ = many (plural). Jñāna-tapas = the austerity/discipline of knowledge (jñāna = knowledge; tapas = heat/austerity — sustained effort). Pūtāḥ = purified (from pū = to purify). Mad-bhāva = My being/state/nature. Āgatāḥ = have come to, have attained. Historical testimony: many before Arjuna have walked this path and attained the divine state.
Freed from attachment, fear, and anger — absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me — many, purified by the austerity of knowledge, have attained My being.
A modern analogy
This path has been walked before. The great sages, the realized masters across traditions — they are the 'many' of V10. The teaching is not untested theory. It has been verified across generations by practitioners who completed the path. The lineage of liberation is real.
Take with you
- Vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodha — the three things to be freed from: attachment, fear, anger. These are the inner blocks.
- Jñāna-tapas — the austerity of knowledge: sustained, disciplined inquiry and practice. Knowledge here is not casual reading.
- Bahavaḥ (many) — this is not an impossible path reserved for one. Many have completed it.
- Man-maya (absorbed in Me) is the orientation; mām upāśritāḥ (taking refuge in Me) is the relationship. Both matter.
V10 closes the avatāra section (V6-10) with historical testimony. After the cosmic doctrine (V6-9), V10 grounds it: many have done this. The triad vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodha (freed from attachment, fear, anger) echoes the sthitaprajña portrait of Ch.2 — the sage whose senses are withdrawn (V2.58), who is not disturbed by fear (V2.56), who is free from rāga-dveṣa (V2.64). The path from Ch.2's sthitaprajña through Ch.3's karma-yoga arrives here in Ch.4: jñāna-tapas (the sustained austerity of knowledge) purifies (pūtāḥ) the practitioner and produces mad-bhāva (the divine state). Shankaracharya: jñāna-tapas is the most effective form of tapas because it purifies not just the body or the senses but the intellect itself — the very instrument that contains the misidentification with ego.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Freed from attachment, fear, and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, many purified by the austerity of knowledge have attained to My state. [1]
Freed from attachment, fear, and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, many purified by the austerity of knowledge have attained My Being. [4]
Many who were freed from attachment, fear, and anger, becoming one with Me, taking refuge in Me, and purified in the fire of wisdom, have attained my essence. [6]
Many there be who come to Me! Freed from attachment, fear, and wrath; Divine themselves, made clean by self-denial, They reach My holy state. [7]
Being freed from attachment, fear, and anger, being absorbed in Me, and taking refuge in Me, many purified by the austerity of knowledge have arrived at My nature. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Unmoved in sorrow, ungreedy in joy, free from passion, fear, and anger — that is the steady sage.
Whoever truly knows My divine birth and action — leaving the body, they do not return. They come to Me.
Whatever action a person initiates with body, speech, and mind — right or the reverse — these five are its causes.
Thinking → clinging → craving → anger. The chain of suffering begins in where you let your mind dwell.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Sāttvic tyāga: niyata karma done ONLY because 'this must be done,' having abandoned attachment and fruit.