Sanskrit
अपि चेत्सुदुराचारो भजते मामनन्यभाक् । साधुरेव स मन्तव्यः सम्यग्व्यवसितो हि सः ॥
api cet sudurācāro bhajate mām ananyabhāk sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ
Translation
Even if the most sinful worship Me, with undivided heart, he too must be accounted righteous, for he hath rightly resolved;
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
One of the Gita’s more startling claims taken at face value: even someone of thoroughly bad conduct (su-durācāraḥ) counts as sādhu, righteous, if the devotion is undivided (ananya-bhāk), because what’s being evaluated is the resolve (samyag vyavasitaḥ), not the track record. This isn’t moral relativism so much as a claim about trajectory — the verse that follows makes clear the reform is expected to be rapid and real, not a permanent exemption granted for sincerity alone. Samyag vyavasitaḥ — “rightly resolved” — is what the verse actually rewards: the settled turn of the whole person toward Krishna, which BG 9.31 says produces real reform kṣipram, quickly. The undivided devotion is the evidence of the turn.
Study deeper
Word by word
- api cet sudurācāroअपि चेत् सुदुराचारो
- even if one of very bad conduct (api + cet + su-durācāraḥ)
- bhajate mām ananyabhākभजते मां अनन्यभाक्
- worships Me with undivided devotion (bhajate + mām + ananya-bhāk)
- sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥसाधुः एव स मन्तव्यः
- he is to be counted righteous (sādhuḥ + eva + saḥ + mantavyaḥ)
- samyag vyavasito hi saḥसंयग् व्यवसितो हि सः
- for his resolve is right (samyak + vyavasitaḥ + hi + saḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
“Sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ” isn’t phrased as “he becomes righteous” but as “he must be reckoned righteous” — a passive verb aimed outward at how he is to be judged, not just at some inner change already complete. Krishna is instructing the listener’s own judgment here as much as describing the sinner’s transformation, which is a harder ask than it looks: revising a verdict on someone based on their direction rather than their record.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When evaluating your own progress, weight the direction you've turned toward more than the record you're still carrying — a real change of resolve deserves to be recognized as real before the track record has caught up to it.
Professional
- When someone on your team has genuinely turned toward doing better work, update how you regard them based on that resolve — don't wait for a long enough track record to accumulate before you revise your judgment.
Family & Social
- When someone close to you has genuinely changed direction, practice revising your judgment of them to match the change, rather than holding them permanently to their worst past record.
Ask yourself
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