Sanskrit
यो मामजमनादिं च वेत्ति लोकमहेश्वरम् । असम्मूढः स मर्त्येषु सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते ॥ ३ ॥
yo mām ajam anādiṃ ca vetti lokamaheśvaram asammūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣu sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate
Translation
He who knoweth Me, unborn, beginningless, the great Lord of the world, he among mortals without delusion, is liberated from all sin.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The practical payoff of verse 2’s metaphysics: knowing Krishna as the unborn, beginningless source liberates one from all sin. It’s knowledge (jñāna), not ritual observance or moral effort, doing the liberating work here — the same jnana-marga thread that runs alongside karma-yoga in the earlier chapters. Asammūḍhaḥ — “not befuddled” — is what the knowledge produces: clarity about what Krishna actually is, which BG 10.3 says sarva-pāpaiḥ pramucyate, dissolves all sin. The same “know this and be free” form recurs from BG 4.9.
Study deeper
Word by word
- yo mām ajam anādiṃ caयो मां अजं अनादिं च
- who knows Me as unborn and beginningless (yaḥ + mām + ajam + anādim + ca)
- vetti lokamaheśvaramवेत्ति लोकमहेश्वरं
- the great Lord of the worlds (vetti + loka-maha-īśvaram)
- asammūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣuअसंमूढः स मर्त्येषु
- undeluded among mortals (asammūḍhaḥ + saḥ + martyeṣu)
- sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyateसर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते
- is freed from all sins (sarva-pāpaiḥ + pramucyate)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Verse 3 doesn’t ask for austerity or moral perfection as the price of freedom from sin — it asks for accurate knowledge of what Krishna actually is. Locating liberation in correct understanding rather than accumulated effort quietly reopens a door the karma-yoga chapters seemed to close: sometimes what changes a situation is not more doing, but finally seeing clearly what was already true.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you're stuck despite real effort, ask whether the fix is more doing or a corrected understanding — this verse locates liberation in accurate knowledge, not accumulated striving. Sometimes what unlocks a stuck situation is finally seeing clearly what more effort alone won't touch.
Professional
- When a team keeps missing a target despite working harder, check whether the real blocker is a wrong mental model rather than insufficient effort. This verse ties liberation to correct knowledge, not more striving — sometimes a corrected understanding resolves what extra hours won't.
Family & Social
- When a recurring conflict resists every effort to fix it through more trying, check whether someone is working from a mistaken understanding of the other's actual situation. This verse suggests correct understanding, not additional effort, is sometimes the thing that actually resolves it.
Ask yourself
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