येषां त्वन्तगतं पापं जनानां पुण्यकर्मणाम् | ते द्वन्द्वमोहनिर्मुक्ता भजन्ते मां दृढव्रताः ||२८||
yeṣāṃ tv anta-gataṃ pāpaṃ janānāṃ puṇya-karmaṇām | te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṃ dṛḍha-vratāḥ || 28 ||
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
Word by word (3)
- yeṣāṃ tu anta-gataṃ pāpam janānāṃ puṇya-karmaṇām
- — those persons whose sin has come to an end — those of virtuous deeds · yeṣāṃ = of whom (genitive plural — 'those in whom the following condition has occurred'). tu = but (contrastive to V27's universal delusion — now the exception). anta-gataṃ = come to an end (anta = end; gata = gone to, arrived at; anta-gata = having gone to the end, having been exhausted/ended). pāpaṃ = sin, demerit (pāpa = the accumulated weight of wrong action — the karma of non-dharmic acts that maintains the conditions of delusion). janānāṃ = of persons. puṇya-karmaṇām = of those with virtuous deeds (puṇya = merit, virtue; karma = action; puṇya-karma = virtuous action; puṇya-karmaṇāṃ = of those whose actions are virtuous). The qualifying description: these are persons in whom the pāpa (sin/demerit) has been exhausted (anta-gata) through accumulated puṇya-karma (virtuous action). This describes the fruit of sustained ethical and spiritual practice: the accumulated non-dharmic action that maintained the conditions of dvandva-moha has been worked through.
- te dvandva-moha-nirmuktāḥ bhajante māṃ dṛḍha-vratāḥ
- — they, freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites, worship Me with firm resolve · te = they (those just described). dvandva-moha-nirmuktāḥ = freed from the delusion of pairs of opposites (dvandva = pairs; moha = delusion; nirmukta = freed from — nir = without; mukta = liberated — so nirmukta = fully released from). bhajante = worship (the bhakti root from √bhaj). māṃ = Me. dṛḍha-vratāḥ = with firm resolve (dṛḍha = firm, strong, steady; vrata = vow, resolve, determination — dṛḍha-vrata = one whose resolve is firm). V28 describes the transition from V27's universal condition (all beings deluded at birth) to the exceptional condition (some beings freed from dvandva-moha and worshipping with firm resolve). The liberation from dvandva-moha is described as a consequence of pāpa's exhaustion through puṇya-karma — not as a direct spiritual achievement but as the natural clearing that occurs when the accumulated non-dharmic karma has been worked through.
- dvandva-moha-nirmukta — the specific condition that enables genuine worship
- — freedom from the delusion of pairs of opposites — the prerequisite for dṛḍha-vrata worship of the Supreme · V28's dvandva-moha-nirmukta (freed from the delusion of pairs) is the direct reversal of V27's dvandva-moha (the universal condition). The contrast: V27 — all beings at birth fall into dvandva-moha; V28 — those whose pāpa has ended through puṇya-karma are freed from dvandva-moha. The freedom is not a suppression of desire and aversion (the dvandvas themselves) but liberation from the MOHA (delusion/confusion) they produce: the dvandva-moha-nirmukta can experience pleasure and pain, attraction and repulsion, without losing sight of the ground in which these arise. The dvandvas are experienced but no longer produce the delusion that veils the Divine. This is the state of equanimity (sama sukha-duḥkha of V6.7) at its full development: not indifference but grounded presence with the dvandvas.
V28 describes the exception to V27's universal condition: those in whom pāpa (sin/demerit) has been exhausted through puṇya-karma (virtuous action) — freed from dvandva-moha (the delusion of pairs of opposites) — worship Krishna with dṛḍha-vrata (firm resolve). V28 describes the fruit of sustained virtuous practice: the dvandva-moha loosens, the worship becomes genuine and stable.
A modern analogy
Someone who has worked through years of accumulated psychological patterns — through therapy, practice, honest relationship — reaches a point where they no longer automatically react from those patterns. They can still experience the patterns but are not defined by them. V28's dvandva-moha-nirmukta is this point applied to the spiritual dimension: the accumulated karma of wrong action has been worked through; the dvandva-structure no longer dominates; worship can be genuine and stable.
What it does NOT mean
V28 does NOT say that only those with perfect moral records can worship the Divine. 'Sin come to an end' (anta-gataṃ pāpaṃ) refers to the accumulated karma of non-dharmic action being worked through — it is a process, not a threshold test. V28 describes the condition of those whose practice has sufficiently cleared the accumulated non-dharmic residue that dvandva-moha no longer dominates. It is a description of progress, not a gatekeeping requirement.
Take with you
- V28's puṇya-karma (virtuous action) path: the clearing of dvandva-moha is not achieved by direct suppression of desire and aversion but by the sustained practice of virtuous action — karma yoga's method of gradually working through the accumulated non-dharmic karma. Each dharmic action, each act of karma yoga, contributes to V28's anta-gataṃ pāpaṃ (exhaustion of sin).
- V28's dṛḍha-vrata (firm resolve) is the quality of worship that becomes possible when dvandva-moha has loosened: worship no longer blown about by the waves of desire and aversion, preference and avoidance. The resolve is firm because the dvandva-structure no longer continually disrupts it.
- V28 invites a check: is my spiritual practice characterized by dṛḍha-vrata (firm resolve) or by dvandva-driven fluctuation (determined when things are going well, absent when they are not)? If the latter, V27's mechanism is operative. The path: more puṇya-karma, more ethical action, more karma yoga — clearing the residue gradually.
V28 is the pivot verse of V26-30's arc: V26 (none knows Me) → V27 (why: dvandva-moha at birth) → V28 (but some are freed from dvandva-moha and worship with firm resolve) → V29-30 (what they know and worship). V28 describes the transition from the universal condition of V27 to the exceptional condition of V29-30: the ones who have worked through sufficient karma to be freed from dvandva-moha. The causal chain V28 implies: sin (pāpa) → dvandva-moha (as the cognitive residue of non-dharmic action maintains the desire-aversion structure); sin's ending (anta-gataṃ pāpaṃ) through puṇya-karma → dvandva-moha-nirmukta → dṛḍha-vrata worship. This makes virtue (puṇya-karma) not merely morally required but cognitively necessary: the dvandva-moha that veils the Divine is maintained by the accumulated karma of non-dharmic action; only the clearing of that karma through virtuous action frees the dvandva-moha. This is the Gita's integration of karma (action), jñāna (knowledge), and bhakti (devotion): virtuous karma (puṇya-karma) clears the cognitive obstruction (dvandva-moha) that prevents genuine jñāna and steady bhakti. The three paths are not alternatives but collaborators: virtue prepares the ground for knowledge; knowledge deepens virtue; both together enable the steady devotion of V28's dṛḍha-vrata.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya: anta-gataṃ pāpaṃ is the exhaustion of the accumulated vāsanās (karmic impressions) that maintain the avidyā-based misidentification of ātman with body-mind. When these are exhausted through puṇya-karma and the consequent citta-śuddhi (purification of the mind-field), the dvandva-moha loses its power, and the direct inquiry (nididhyāsana) toward the Self becomes possible.
Bhakti lens
For bhakti traditions, V28's dṛḍha-vrata (firm resolve) is the description of the mature bhakta whose devotion is not conditional on the conditions of life. The mature bhakta worships through pleasure and pain (no longer in dvandva-moha), through success and failure, through the presence and absence of felt devotion. This is the fruit of long practice described in V28.
Karma-Yoga lens
V28 is the karma yoga fruition verse: the sustained practice of karma yoga (puṇya-karma without attachment = action free from the icchā-dveṣa structure) gradually clears the accumulated non-dharmic karma, frees the dvandva-moha, and enables the dṛḍha-vrata worship. V28 is the karma yoga path's endpoint — the karma yogi becomes the dṛḍha-vrata devotee.
Modern parallels
V28's process (puṇya-karma → pāpa ends → dvandva-moha clears → stable worship) parallels the psychological process of working through unconscious patterns: sustained honest action, ethical conduct, and therapeutic work gradually dissolve the reactive patterns (dvandvas) that automatically organize experience, enabling a more stable, grounded, and freely-chosen engagement with life. V28 is the spiritual version of this psychological fruition.
Practice
V28 dṛḍha-vrata cultivation: commit to a specific spiritual practice (meditation, mantra, study) for a fixed duration (30 days, 90 days) regardless of how it feels on any given day. This is dṛḍha-vrata practice in the most direct sense: the resolve is firm (dṛḍha) not because every session is wonderful but because the vow (vrata) holds regardless. Each session maintained through difficulty is V28's puṇya-karma clearing the dvandva-moha.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
Those persons of virtuous deeds whose sins have come to an end — they, freed from the delusion of pairs of opposites, worship Me with firm resolve. [1]
Those men of virtuous deeds, whose sin has come to an end — they, freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites, worship Me with firm resolve. [4]
But those of virtuous deeds in whom sin hath come to an end, freed from the delusion of the Pairs of Opposites, steadfast in vows they worship Me. [5]
Those men of virtuous actions who are free from sin, and freed from the delusion arising from the pairs of contraries — these worship me with firm resolution. [6]
But they who act well, Pritha's Son, freed from the pairs of opposites and sin, know Me — they are fixed on Me and steadfastly will serve Me. [7]
But those men of virtuous deeds whose sins have come to an end, and who are freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites, worship me with firm resolve. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
All beings fall into complete delusion at birth — through the dvandva-moha arising from desire and aversion.
Taking refuge in Me for liberation from old age and death — they know Brahman, Adhyātma, and all of Karma.
The self-conquered yogi finds the Supreme Self equally present through cold, heat, joy, pain, honour and dishonour.
Do My work, hold Me supreme, be My devotee, attachment-free, without enmity toward all — such a one comes to Me!
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
Tamas — born of ignorance — deludes all beings and binds through carelessness, laziness, and sleep.