Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 10, Verse 3

यो मामजमनादिं च वेत्ति लोकमहेश्वरम्।
असम्मूढः स मर्त्येषु सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते।।
yo māmajam anādiṁ ca vetti loka-maheśvaram asammūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣu sarva-pāpaiḥ pramucyate
also searched as "yo mamajam anadim cha vetti loka-maheshvaram"

Translation

He who knows Me as unborn, without a beginning, and the great Lord of the worlds—he among mortals is undeluded and is released from all sin.

Vāṇi's rendering

Know me unborn, without beginning, lord of all worlds — and, undeluded among mortals, be freed from every sin.

Word by word

Sanskrit & transliterationMeaning
यःyohe who
माम्māmme (joined with the next word as māmajam)
अजम्ajamunborn, never brought into being
अनादिम्anādimwithout beginning, having no origin
चcaand
वेत्तिvettiknows, truly recognises
लोकमहेश्वरम्loka-maheśvaramthe great lord of all the worlds
असम्मूढःasammūḍhaḥundeluded, not confused
सःsahe, that one
मर्त्येषुmartyeṣuamong mortals, among those who die
सर्वपापैःsarva-pāpaiḥfrom all sins, from every wrong
प्रमुच्यतेpramucyateis completely released, set free

Commentary

Unborn. Beginningless. Two negatives, and Krishna hands them to Arjuna as the whole of what must be known. Everything you have ever loved began — and so you brace for its ending. That bracing is the delusion. Krishna is naming the one thing that did not start and therefore cannot stop, and saying: know that, and you are no longer among the deceived. Notice what follows. Not reward. Release — sarva-pāpaiḥ, from every sin, the whole accumulated weight of having acted. Knowledge does not excuse the past; it dissolves the ground the past was standing on. Look for what in you was never born.

Frequently asked

What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Verse 3 mean?
Krishna says that whoever knows him as unborn, without beginning, and lord of all worlds stands clear of delusion and is released from every sin. The knowing is not information. It is a shift in what you take yourself to rest on — and that shift is itself the freedom.
Yo mamajam anadim cha vetti loka-maheshvaram - what is this verse about?
It is about the one thing in existence that never started. Everything else you know has a birth date and therefore an end. Krishna points to himself as ajam, unborn, and says recognition of that is what ends confusion. Not belief in it — recognition of it.
How can simply knowing something free a person from all sins?
Because sin, in the Gītā's sense, accumulates around a mistaken sense of being the separate doer with a beginning and an end. Remove that footing and the debt has nowhere to sit. Krishna does not say the deeds are erased. He says you are released — pramucyate.
Why does Krishna use the word asammudhah, undeluded, here?
Because delusion is the actual problem, not wickedness. Arjuna is not a bad man; he is a confused one. Krishna treats clear seeing as the cure. Among mortals — martyeṣu, among those who die — the undeluded one is simply the one who has stopped mistaking the temporary for the whole.

Themes in this verse

Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.

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