Bhagavad Gita 7.29
Spoken by Krishna ☆ Key verse · Verse 29 of 30
जरामरणमोक्षाय मामाश्रित्य यतन्ति ये | ते ब्रह्म तद्विदुः कृत्स्नमध्यात्मं कर्म चाखिलम् ||२९||
jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya mām āśritya yatanti ye | te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnam adhyātmaṃ karma cākhilam || 29 ||
Taking refuge in Me for liberation from old age and death — they know Brahman, Adhyātma, and all of Karma.
Word by word (3)
- jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya mām āśritya yatanti ye
- — those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me · jarā = old age (the process of aging, bodily decline). maraṇa = death (the cessation of bodily life). mokṣāya = for liberation from (mokṣa = liberation, release — the liberation from the cycle of aging and death, from saṃsāra's cycle). mām = Me. āśritya = taking refuge in (āśritya = having resorted to, having taken shelter in — the same root as āśraya/prapatti). yatanti = strive, endeavor (from √yat = to strive, to make effort). ye = those who. The three-part description of the seeker of liberation: (1) the goal — jarā-maraṇa-mokṣa (liberation from old age and death); (2) the means — mām āśritya (taking refuge in Me); (3) the quality of engagement — yatanti (striving, making effort). This is the most direct description in Ch.7 of the mokṣa-seeker: one who recognizes the limitation of temporal existence (jarā, maraṇa) and strives for freedom from it through taking refuge in the Supreme.
- te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnam adhyātmaṃ karma ca akhilam
- — they know Brahman — that completely; and the whole of Adhyātma, and the entirety of Karma · te = they (those just described). brahma = Brahman (the absolute reality — here introduced as an object of knowledge). tad = that (that Brahman). viduḥ = they know (vi + √vid = to know thoroughly). kṛtsnam = completely, wholly (kṛtsna = entire, all — kṛtsnam viduḥ = they know it completely). adhyātmaṃ = the Adhyātma (adhi = over, above; ātma = self — adhyātma = the complete teaching about the Self; the Self as it is in its transcendent nature). karma = action, karma. ca = and. akhilam = entirely, completely (akhila = without gap, entire). The promise: those who strive for liberation through refuge in the Supreme come to know: (1) Brahman completely (brahma tad kṛtsnam viduḥ); (2) Adhyātma in its entirety (kṛtsnam adhyātmaṃ); (3) the whole of Karma (karma ca akhilam). These three — Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma — are the three key domains of complete spiritual knowledge. Ch.8 will open with Arjuna's questions about exactly these three, using V29's terms.
- brahma / adhyātma / karma — the three domains of mokṣa-knowledge
- — those who strive through refuge in Me come to know all three domains that constitute complete spiritual understanding · V29's three domains correspond to three levels of spiritual understanding: (1) Brahman (the Absolute, the ground of all) — the object of jñāna; (2) Adhyātma (the Self in its transcendent nature — the ātman as identical with or related to Brahman) — the object of ātma-jñāna (self-knowledge); (3) Karma (action, the law of cause and effect, the yoga of action) — the object of karma-understanding. Together, these three constitute the complete knowledge that V2 promised would leave nothing more to be known. V29's promise: taking refuge in Me with the goal of mokṣa (liberation from aging and death) leads to complete knowledge of all three. This is Ch.8's setup: Arjuna will ask exactly about Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma, Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña — the terms V29 and V30 introduce.
Those who strive for freedom from old age and death by taking refuge in Me come to know Brahman in full — the whole of the Self and all of action.
A modern analogy
Someone who has recognized that the ordinary pursuit of temporary satisfactions cannot fulfill the deepest longing — and who has therefore turned to the pursuit of what is beyond aging and death (the timeless ground) — is this verse's seeker. The goal is not escape from the body but liberation from the identification with the body that makes aging and death appear as ultimate losses.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's 'liberation from old age and death' is NOT about physical immortality. It is liberation from the cycle of saṃsāra — the repetition of birth, aging, and death that characterizes unawakened existence. The mokṣa (liberation) is from the ignorance-cycle, not from physical mortality. Those who understand this distinction are on this verse's path.
Take with you
- This verse's 'jarā-maraṇa-mokṣa' (liberation from aging and death) is the most direct statement of the mokṣa-motivation: the recognition that temporal existence, governed by aging and death, is not the ultimate good. This recognition is the beginning of genuine spiritual seeking — the jijñāsu, the seeker who is one of the four kinds of virtuous persons who worship the Divine, and who has recognized the limitation of the antavat, the finite fruit that comes to those of little understanding.
- This verse's mām āśritya (taking refuge in Me) is the means: not abstract philosophical inquiry but the direct taking of shelter in the Supreme. This connects the verse to the earlier teaching on refuge: the same surrender that crosses the divine māyā made of the guṇas — hard to cross, but crossed by those who take refuge in the Lord alone — is the means that leads to complete knowledge of Brahman, Adhyātma, and Karma.
- This verse prepares for Chapter 8: the three domains (Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma) named here, plus the three named in the verse that follows (Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, Adhiyajña — known by those who know the Divine even at death, with unified minds), are exactly the six questions Arjuna will ask at Chapter 8's beginning. These two closing verses are Chapter 7's setup for Chapter 8's opening — the continuation is directly prepared.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
Those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me — they know Brahman completely, and the whole of Adhyātma, and Karma entirely. [1]
Those who strive for freedom from old age and death, taking refuge in Me — they know Brahman, the whole of Adhyatma, and Karma in its entirety. [4]
Those who take refuge in Me, striving for liberation from old age and death, they know That Brahman, the whole Adhyatma, Karma altogether. [5]
They who seek in me a refuge from birth and old age, know Brahman, the whole of Adhyatma, and all about action. [6]
Yet more are they who, striving to be quit of Age and Death, come unto Me for refuge, and Brahma they know, and all Adhyatma, and they know all Karma! [7]
Those who strive for deliverance from old age and death, taking shelter in me, know that Brahman fully, the whole of adhyatma, and all karma. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
Those who know Me as Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña — they know Me even at death, with unified minds.
What is Brahman, Adhyātma, Karma, Adhibhūta, and Adhidaiva, O Puruṣottama?
Brahman-become, serene, neither grieving nor desiring, equal to all beings — he attains supreme bhakti to Me.
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
This knowledge, more secret than all secrets, has been declared to you — reflect on it fully and act as you wish.
Verse 29 of 30 · back to Chapter 7