Sanskrit
तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः । गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः ॥
tadbuddhayas tadātmānas tanniṣṭhās tatparāyaṇāḥ gacchanty apunarāvṛttiṃ jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥ
Translation
Thinking on That, merged in That, established in That, solely devoted to That, they go whence there is no return, their sins dispelled by wisdom.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Four compounds built on tad, “That,” the Supreme, stack up in the first line — intellect fixed on it, self merged in it, grounded in it, devoted wholly to it — a rhetorical technique the Gita reaches for when it wants total absorption to feel structurally total rather than merely described as total. Apunarāvṛtti, non-return, names the destination precisely: release from the rebirth cycle, achieved here through sins being nirdhūta, shaken off, by knowledge rather than through ritual expiation. It’s a fitting capstone to the argument of the preceding three verses — once ignorance is uncovered, the residue it left behind doesn’t need separate treatment; it falls away with the ignorance that generated it. Apunarāvṛtti — “no coming back” — is the Gita’s plainest word for liberation as exit from the cycle. The impurities are nirdhūta, shaken off, not expiated: they leave with the ignorance, not through a separate rite.
Study deeper
Word by word
- tadbuddhayasतद्बुद्धयस्
- their intellect fixed on That (tad-buddhayaḥ)
- tadātmānasतदात्मानस्
- their self absorbed in That (tad-ātmānaḥ)
- tanniṣṭhāsतन्निष्ठास्
- grounded in That (tat-niṣṭhāḥ)
- tatparāyaṇāḥतत्परायणाः
- wholly devoted to That (tat-parāyaṇāḥ)
- gacchantyगच्छन्त्य्
- they go to
- apunarāvṛttiṃअपुनरावृत्तिं
- non-return (a-punar-āvṛttim)
- jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः
- their impurities shaken off by knowledge (jñāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣāḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Nirdhūta — “shaken off,” the word used for dust shaken from cloth — is a surprisingly physical image for the removal of accumulated sin, more laundry than absolution. It fits a pattern running through this stretch of the chapter: abstract metaphysical claims in verses 14-16 keep getting cashed out in concrete, almost domestic images — a lotus leaf, sunlight, now shaken-off dust — as if the text distrusts leaving its biggest claims in purely abstract vocabulary.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you're trying to let go of guilt over past mistakes, picture something concrete and physical — dust shaken from cloth — rather than reaching only for abstract language like forgiving yourself, which is easy to agree with and hard to actually feel.
Professional
- When communicating an abstract principle to your team — fail fast, psychological safety — anchor it with one concrete, physical image or example; abstractions get nodded at, concrete images get remembered and acted on.
Family & Social
- When apologizing to someone close to you, pair a concrete gesture with the words rather than relying on abstract language alone — a specific, physical act tends to land the way "I'm sorry" on its own often doesn't.
Ask yourself
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