Sanskrit
यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर्व्यतितरिष्यति । तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदं श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च ॥
yadā te mohakalilaṃ buddhir vyatitariṣyati tadā gantāsi nirvedaṃ śrotavyasya śrutasya ca
Translation
When thy mind shall escape from this tangle of delusion, then thou shalt rise to indifference as to what has been heard and shall be heard.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Krishna turns from describing the sage in general to addressing Arjuna directly: once his own mind clears the “tangle of delusion” that’s had him paralyzed since verse 1, even scriptural teaching — past or future, already heard or still to come — will stop mattering to him in the way it does now. It’s a striking claim to make mid-lesson, and sets up verse 53’s even sharper version of it. Nirveda toward scripture is not contempt; it is the well-and-flood point of BG 2.46 restated personally — once the buddhi is across, the map matters less because you are in the territory.
Study deeper
Word by word
- yadā te mohakalilaṃयदा ते मोहकलिलं
- when your tangle of delusion (yadā + te + moha-kalilam)
- buddhirबुद्धिः
- the understanding
- vyatitariṣyatiव्यतितरिष्यति
- crosses beyond
- tadāतदा
- then
- gantāsiगन्तासि
- you will go to
- nirvedaṃनिर्वेदं
- indifference, disgust
- śrotavyasya śrutasya caश्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च
- toward what is to be heard and what has been heard (śrotavyasya + śrutasya + ca)
Commentary
Site Commentary
It’s a striking thing for a teacher to say mid-lesson: once Arjuna’s own mind clears, even scripture — past or future — will stop mattering to him the way it does now. Most teaching insists on its own permanent authority; this one predicts its own eventual irrelevance to the very student it’s addressing.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Notice when advice or a rule that once genuinely helped you has become something you follow out of habit rather than need — outgrowing good guidance is a sign it worked, not a reason to feel disloyal to it.
Professional
- The best mentorship aims at making itself unnecessary — if you're managing someone well, expect a point where they stop needing your specific guidance, and treat that as success rather than a threat to your role.
Family & Social
- A parent's rules are meant to be outgrown, not followed indefinitely — notice when a family guideline that once mattered is now just habit, and let it go rather than enforcing it past its purpose.
Ask yourself
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