Sanskrit
येषां त्वन्तगतं पापं जनानां पुण्यकर्मणाम् । ते द्वन्द्वमोहनिर्मुक्ता भजन्ते मां दृढव्रताः ॥ २८ ॥
yeṣāṃ tv antagataṃ pāpaṃ janānāṃ puṇyakarmaṇām te dvandvamohanirmuktā bhajante māṃ dṛḍhavratāḥ
Translation
But those men of pure deeds, in whom sin is come to an end, they, freed from the delusive pairs of opposites, worship Me, steadfast in vows.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The exception to verse 27’s universal claim: those whose accumulated wrongdoing has run its course become free of the very dvandva-delusion verse 27 described as built in from birth. Freedom here isn’t achieved by suppressing desire and aversion directly but arrives as a byproduct of purified action (puṇyakarmaṇām) — connecting back to the karma-yoga teaching of chapter 2 rather than introducing a new discipline. Freedom from the dvandva is a result of puṇya-karma, purified action, not a separate technique aimed at desire and aversion directly. It clears the way for the dṛḍha-vrata devotion of the next verses.
Study deeper
Word by word
- yeṣāṃ tv antagataṃ pāpaṃयेषां त्व् अन्तगतं पापं
- but those whose sin has come to an end (yeṣām + tu + anta-gatam + pāpam)
- janānāṃ puṇyakarmaṇāmजनानां पुण्यकर्मणां
- people of meritorious deeds (janānām + puṇya-karmaṇām)
- te dvandvamohanirmuktāते द्वन्द्वमोहनिर्मुक्ता
- they, freed from the delusion of the pairs (te + dvandva-moha-nirmuktāḥ)
- bhajante māṃ dṛḍhavratāḥभजन्ते मां दृढव्रताः
- worship Me with firm resolve (bhajante + mām + dṛḍha-vratāḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
“Sin come to an end” is a passive, almost administrative phrase — not sin destroyed in a single decisive act, but sin that has simply run out, the way a term expires. That word choice matters: it frames freedom from delusion less as a battle won and more as a process that reaches its natural conclusion, which is a different kind of patience than the willpower verse 27’s dvandva-delusion might otherwise seem to demand.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- Freedom from a long-held pattern often doesn't arrive as one decisive victory — it can simply run its course through sustained, unglamorous effort until it's quietly over. Give yourself permission to expect gradual expiration rather than a dramatic breakthrough moment.
Professional
- Technical debt or a bad process rarely gets eliminated in one heroic fix — it more often runs down gradually through sustained, unglamorous discipline applied consistently. Plan for that kind of patient reduction rather than betting the roadmap on a single decisive rewrite.
Family & Social
- A long-standing tension in a family often doesn't end with one big resolving conversation — it can wear down gradually through consistent, patient effort until it's simply no longer there. Don't hold out for the dramatic breakthrough moment when steady effort is already doing the work.
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