Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 13, Verse 25
अन्ये त्वेवमजानन्तः श्रुत्वाऽन्येभ्य उपासते।तेऽपि चातितरन्त्येव मृत्युं श्रुतिपरायणाः।।
anye tv evam ajānantaḥ śrutvānyebhya upāsate
te ’pi cātitaranty eva mṛtyuṁ śruti-parāyaṇāḥ
also searched as "anye tv evam ajanantah shrutvanyebhya upasate"
Translation
But some, who do not know this, having heard from others, worship accordingly—these too, devoted to what they hear, pass beyond death.
Vāṇi's rendering
Some know no method — they simply trust what they have heard, and live it. They too cross beyond death.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अन्येanye | others, some people |
| तुtu | but, however (appears as tv before evam) |
| एवम्evam | thus, in this way |
| अजानन्तःajānantaḥ | not knowing, without such understanding |
| श्रुत्वाśrutvā | having heard |
| अन्येभ्यःanyebhyaḥ | from others (joined with śrutvā by sandhi as śrutvānyebhya) |
| उपासतेupāsate | they worship, they attend upon, they live by it |
| तेte | they |
| अपिapi | also, even they (elided to ’pi after te) |
| चca | and (joined with atitaranti as cātitaranti) |
| अतितरन्तिatitaranti | they cross over, they pass beyond |
| एवeva | indeed, surely |
| मृत्युम्mṛtyum | death |
| श्रुतिपरायणाःśruti-parāyaṇāḥ | holding what they have heard as their whole refuge |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Verse 25 mean?
It means the door is wider than the trained expect. Krishna has named meditation, sāṅkhya and karma yoga; here he turns to those who practise none of them. They heard the truth from someone, believed it, and shaped their days around it. Krishna says they too pass beyond death — not partly, not eventually, but truly.
What is the meaning of anye tv evam ajanantah shrutvanyebhya upasate?
Anye — others. Ajānantaḥ — not knowing, in the sense of having no method of their own. Śrutvā anyebhyaḥ — having heard from others. Upāsate — they attend upon it, they live near it. The line describes faith that comes secondhand and is lived firsthand, which Krishna treats as entirely sufficient.
Is faith based on hearing really enough, or is it second best?
Krishna gives no second place. He says te ’pi — these also — and then eva, indeed, cross beyond death. What decides the matter is śruti-parāyaṇāḥ: they made what they heard their refuge, not one opinion among many. Borrowed words become your own the moment you stake your living on them.
What should I do if I have no spiritual practice at all?
Stop measuring yourself against practitioners. Find the one true thing you have actually been told and hold to it without hedging. Krishna is not counting hours of meditation here; he is watching where your trust rests. A single teaching, taken seriously and lived daily, carries you the whole distance.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just listed the methods — meditation, discernment, action — and now he says the methods are not the point. Some will never sit in dhyāna. Some cannot follow an argument to its end. They heard something true from someone they trusted, and they took it into their living. Krishna does not rank them lower. He gives them the same crossing: beyond death, the same shore. What carries a person is not the sophistication of the route but the weight they place on what they have received. You may have no method. Ask instead whether you have been faithful to the one thing you were told.