जरामरणमोक्षाय मामाश्रित्य यतन्ति ये | ते ब्रह्म तद्विदुः कृत्स्नमध्यात्मं कर्म चाखिलम् ||२९||
jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya mām āśritya yatanti ye | te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnam adhyātmaṃ karma cākhilam || 29 ||
Taking refuge in Me for liberation from old age and death — they know Brahman, Adhyātma, and all of Karma.
Word by word (3)
- jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya mām āśritya yatanti ye
- — those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me · jarā = old age (the process of aging, bodily decline). maraṇa = death (the cessation of bodily life). mokṣāya = for liberation from (mokṣa = liberation, release — the liberation from the cycle of aging and death, from saṃsāra's cycle). mām = Me. āśritya = taking refuge in (āśritya = having resorted to, having taken shelter in — the same root as āśraya/prapatti). yatanti = strive, endeavor (from √yat = to strive, to make effort). ye = those who. The three-part description of the seeker of liberation: (1) the goal — jarā-maraṇa-mokṣa (liberation from old age and death); (2) the means — mām āśritya (taking refuge in Me); (3) the quality of engagement — yatanti (striving, making effort). This is the most direct description in Ch.7 of the mokṣa-seeker: one who recognizes the limitation of temporal existence (jarā, maraṇa) and strives for freedom from it through taking refuge in the Supreme.
- te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnam adhyātmaṃ karma ca akhilam
- — they know Brahman — that completely; and the whole of Adhyātma, and the entirety of Karma · te = they (those just described). brahma = Brahman (the absolute reality — here introduced as an object of knowledge). tad = that (that Brahman). viduḥ = they know (vi + √vid = to know thoroughly). kṛtsnam = completely, wholly (kṛtsna = entire, all — kṛtsnam viduḥ = they know it completely). adhyātmaṃ = the Adhyātma (adhi = over, above; ātma = self — adhyātma = the complete teaching about the Self; the Self as it is in its transcendent nature). karma = action, karma. ca = and. akhilam = entirely, completely (akhila = without gap, entire). The promise: those who strive for liberation through refuge in the Supreme come to know: (1) Brahman completely (brahma tad kṛtsnam viduḥ); (2) Adhyātma in its entirety (kṛtsnam adhyātmaṃ); (3) the whole of Karma (karma ca akhilam). These three — Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma — are the three key domains of complete spiritual knowledge. Ch.8 will open with Arjuna's questions about exactly these three, using V29's terms.
- brahma / adhyātma / karma — the three domains of mokṣa-knowledge
- — those who strive through refuge in Me come to know all three domains that constitute complete spiritual understanding · V29's three domains correspond to three levels of spiritual understanding: (1) Brahman (the Absolute, the ground of all) — the object of jñāna; (2) Adhyātma (the Self in its transcendent nature — the ātman as identical with or related to Brahman) — the object of ātma-jñāna (self-knowledge); (3) Karma (action, the law of cause and effect, the yoga of action) — the object of karma-understanding. Together, these three constitute the complete knowledge that V2 promised would leave nothing more to be known. V29's promise: taking refuge in Me with the goal of mokṣa (liberation from aging and death) leads to complete knowledge of all three. This is Ch.8's setup: Arjuna will ask exactly about Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma, Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña — the terms V29 and V30 introduce.
V29 describes those who have V28's dṛḍha-vrata quality AND a specific orientation: jarā-maraṇa-mokṣa (liberation from old age and death) as the goal, and mām āśritya (taking refuge in Me) as the means. The promise: such ones come to know Brahman completely (kṛtsnam), the whole of Adhyātma (Self-knowledge), and the entirety of Karma. This introduces the three-domain complete knowledge that Ch.8 will elaborate.
A modern analogy
Someone who has recognized that the ordinary pursuit of temporary satisfactions cannot fulfill the deepest longing — and who has therefore turned to the pursuit of what is beyond aging and death (the timeless ground) — is V29's seeker. The goal is not escape from the body but liberation from the identification with the body that makes aging and death appear as ultimate losses.
What it does NOT mean
V29's 'liberation from old age and death' is NOT about physical immortality. It is liberation from the cycle of saṃsāra — the repetition of birth, aging, and death that characterizes unawakened existence. The mokṣa (liberation) is from the ignorance-cycle, not from physical mortality. Those who understand this distinction are on V29's path.
Take with you
- V29's 'jarā-maraṇa-mokṣa' (liberation from aging and death) is the most direct statement of the mokṣa-motivation: the recognition that temporal existence, governed by aging and death, is not the ultimate good. This recognition is the beginning of genuine spiritual seeking — the jijñāsu (V16's seeker) who has recognized the limitation of the antavat (finite, V23).
- V29's mām āśritya (taking refuge in Me) is the means: not abstract philosophical inquiry but the direct taking of shelter in the Supreme. This connects V29 to V14's prapatti teaching: the same refuge that crosses māyā is the means that leads to complete knowledge of Brahman, Adhyātma, and Karma.
- V29 prepares for Ch.8: the three domains (Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma) plus V30's three (Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, Adhiyajña) are exactly the six questions Arjuna will ask at Ch.8's beginning. V29-30 are Ch.7's setup for Ch.8's opening — the continuation is directly prepared.
V29 is the Ch.7 culmination verse in practical terms: having described who cannot take refuge (V15), who does take refuge (V16-19), and who is freed from delusion (V28), V29 describes the highest seekers — those who strive for liberation from the fundamental limitation of temporal existence (aging and death) through complete refuge in the Supreme. The promise: they come to know Brahman, Adhyātma, and Karma completely. The three domains of knowledge (Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma) correspond to the three layers of the Gita's teaching: (1) Brahman — the Absolute, the topic of jñāna-vijñāna; (2) Adhyātma — the Self in its transcendent nature, the topic of ātma-jñāna; (3) Karma — action and its principles, the topic of karma yoga. Complete knowledge of all three constitutes the 'knowing Me in all' that Ch.8 will elaborate. V29's structure mirrors V1's three conditions: V1 described the practitioner who takes refuge in Krishna (mat-āśrayaḥ), practices yoga (yogam yuñjan), and attaches the mind to Krishna (māyy-āsakta-manāḥ) — they will know Me fully (asaṃśayaṃ samagraṃ). V29 shows what that 'knowing Me fully' includes: Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma. The chapter closes by completing the arc of V1's promise.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya: Brahman (the Absolute ground), Adhyātma (the ātman as identical with Brahman), and Karma (the principles of action and its role in spiritual maturation) together constitute the complete Vedantic curriculum. V29's promise: refuge in the Supreme leads to the complete knowledge that dissolves avidyā (ignorance) at all three levels — cosmic (Brahman), individual (Adhyātma), and active (Karma).
Bhakti lens
For bhakti traditions, V29's jarā-maraṇa-mokṣa-motivation is the recognition that only the Eternal Beloved can satisfy the deepest longing — because the deepest longing is not for any temporal good (which is antavat, V23) but for liberation from the cycle of temporality itself. V29's seeker is the bhakta who has recognized that the Beloved is the only sufficient response to the deepest question.
Karma-Yoga lens
V29's 'karma ca akhilam' (the whole of Karma) includes the karma yoga teaching in its completeness: the principles of action offered to the Supreme, action without attachment, the relationship between action and liberation. Those who take refuge in the Supreme with the goal of mokṣa come to understand karma (action) completely — which includes karma yoga's liberating practice.
Modern parallels
V29's jarā-maraṇa-mokṣa (liberation from aging and death) parallels the philosophical tradition of 'philosophia as preparation for death' (Plato's Phaedo: 'philosophy is the practice of dying and being dead') — the view that genuine philosophical inquiry begins with the honest confrontation of mortality. V29 gives the Gita's version: genuine spiritual seeking begins with the honest confrontation of aging and death and the aspiration for what transcends them.
Practice
V29 mortality contemplation: begin a meditation session with a few minutes of honest contemplation of aging and death — not as morbid dwelling but as the honest confrontation that V29 says motivates genuine seeking. 'This body ages. This form ends. What am I beyond the aging and ending?' Then turn the question toward taking refuge in the Supreme: 'mām āśritya — taking refuge in the ground that is beyond aging and death.' This is V29's meditation in direct practice.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
Those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me — they know Brahman completely, and the whole of Adhyātma, and Karma entirely. [1]
Those who strive for freedom from old age and death, taking refuge in Me — they know Brahman, the whole of Adhyatma, and Karma in its entirety. [4]
Those who take refuge in Me, striving for liberation from old age and death, they know That Brahman, the whole Adhyatma, Karma altogether. [5]
They who seek in me a refuge from birth and old age, know Brahman, the whole of Adhyatma, and all about action. [6]
Yet more are they who, striving to be quit of Age and Death, come unto Me for refuge, and Brahma they know, and all Adhyatma, and they know all Karma! [7]
Those who strive for deliverance from old age and death, taking shelter in me, know that Brahman fully, the whole of adhyatma, and all karma. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
Those who know Me as Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña — they know Me even at death, with unified minds.
What is Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma, Adhibhūta, and Adhidaiva, O Puruṣottama?
Brahman-become, serene, neither grieving nor desiring, equal to all beings — he attains supreme bhakti to Me.
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?