Sanskrit
ये मे मतमिदं नित्यमनुतिष्ठन्ति मानवाः । श्रद्धावन्तोऽनसूयन्तो मुच्यन्ते तेऽपि कर्मभिः ॥
ye me matam idaṃ nityam anutiṣṭhanti mānavāḥ śraddhāvanto'nasūyanto mucyante te'pi karmabhiḥ
Translation
Who abide ever in this teaching of Mine full of faith and free from caviling, they too are released from actions.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A consequence clause pegged to “this teaching” — the whole karma-yoga argument since verse 3, now capped by verse 30’s surrender instruction — promising release from action’s binding for those who follow it with shraddha, faith, and without carping. Verse 32 immediately supplies the negative mirror. The two conditions are paired for a reason: śraddhā (trust enough to practise before you have proof) and anasūyā (not sniping at what you don’t yet grasp). Śraddhā as the entry condition for a teaching to work is a claim the Gita makes repeatedly, most fully in chapter 17.
Study deeper
Word by word
- ye me matam idaṃ nityamये मे मतं इदं नित्यं
- those who ever follow this teaching of mine (ye + me + matam + idam + nityam)
- anutiṣṭhantiअनुतिष्ठन्ति
- practise
- mānavāḥमानवाः
- men
- śraddhāvanto'nasūyantoश्रद्धावन्तोऽनसूयन्तो
- full of faith, uncarping (śraddhā-vantaḥ + anasūyantaḥ)
- mucyante te'pi karmabhiḥमुच्यन्ते तेऽपि कर्मभिः
- they too are freed from actions (mucyante + te + api + karmabhiḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Two conditions are named, not one: shraddha, faith, and separately, freedom from caviling — anasūya, a term closer to “not begrudging” or “not nitpicking in bad faith” than simple doubt. That’s a real distinction worth keeping: honest questioning of a teaching isn’t what’s being ruled out here, a particular contrarian posture that picks at something without ever seriously engaging it is.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Honest doubt about a practice you're trying is fine and even useful — what actually blocks progress is the different habit of nitpicking it without ever seriously engaging with it, which this verse singles out separately from faith itself.
Professional
- When adopting a new process or tool, distinguish your legitimate technical objections from reflexive, cavilling resistance to anything new — the first improves the rollout, the second just stalls it without ever engaging it honestly.
Family & Social
- If someone close to you is trying a new habit or approach, notice the difference between asking honest questions and needling it out of habit — the second undermines them in a way genuine curiosity never does.
Ask yourself
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