Sanskrit
जरामरणमोक्षाय मामाश्रित्य यतन्ति ये । ते ब्रह्म तद्विदुः कृत्स्नमध्यात्मं कर्म चाखिलम् ॥ २९ ॥
jarāmaraṇamokṣāya mām āśritya yatanti ye te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnam adhyātmaṃ karma cākhilam
Translation
They who, refuged in Me, strive for liberation from birth and death, they know the Eternal, the whole Self-knowledge, and all action.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Those who strive for freedom from birth and death “know Brahman entirely, the whole self-knowledge, and all action” — three terms the verse doesn’t stop to define. Verse 30 adds three more, adhibhuta, adhidaiva, and adhiyajna, to complete a six-term list that Arjuna explicitly asks Krishna to unpack, term by term, at the very start of chapter 8 — this verse functions as a preview whose payoff is deferred a full chapter. Three of the six coordinates land here — brahma, adhyātma, karma — undefined on purpose. BG 8.1–BG 8.4 is Arjuna asking for the glossary, and Krishna supplying it.
Study deeper
Word by word
- jarāmaraṇamokṣāyaजरामरणमोक्षाय
- for freedom from old age and death (jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya)
- mām āśritya yatanti yeमां आश्रित्य यतन्ति ये
- who strive, taking refuge in Me (mām + āśritya + yatanti + ye)
- te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnamते ब्रह्म तद् विदुः कृत्स्नं
- they know that Brahman in full (te + brahma + tat + viduḥ + kṛtsnam)
- adhyātmaṃ karma cākhilamअध्यात्मं कर्म चाखिलं
- the whole adhyātma and all action (adhyātmam + karma + ca + akhilam)
Commentary
Site Commentary
This verse hands Arjuna three technical terms and moves on without defining any of them, and next chapter opens with Arjuna asking, essentially, “what did you just say?” It’s a rare moment where the Gita’s own structure enacts its content: verse 2 promised knowledge without remainder, but the delivery of that knowledge turns out to be staged, term by term, rather than handed over complete in one pass.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- It's fine to understand something in outline now and let the full depth of it arrive later, in stages, rather than expecting complete understanding the first time you encounter an idea. Real comprehension is often staged, not delivered all at once, even when it was promised whole.
Professional
- When rolling out a complex change, it's fine to introduce the full picture in outline first and unpack the technical detail in a later session, rather than trying to deliver total understanding in one meeting. Staged comprehension often lands better than one dense, complete briefing.
Family & Social
- When explaining something complicated to a child or a family member new to a topic, it's fine to give the outline now and go deeper later in stages — you don't have to, and usually can't, hand over full understanding in one sitting.
Ask yourself
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