Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 16, Verse 22
एतैर्विमुक्तः कौन्तेय तमोद्वारैस्त्रिभिर्नरः।आचरत्यात्मनः श्रेयस्ततो याति परां गतिम्।।
etair vimuktaḥ kaunteya tamo-dvārais tribhir naraḥ
ācaraty ātmanaḥ śreyas tato yāti parāṁ gatim
also searched as "etair vimuktah kaunteya tamodvarais tribhir narah"
Translation
One who has been released from these three gates of darkness, O Arjuna, works for the benefit of the self; thus, they reach the supreme state.
Vāṇi's rendering
Step free of desire, anger, and greed — the three dark gates — and you can finally work your own good, and reach the highest.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| एतैःetaiḥ | from these |
| विमुक्तःvimuktaḥ | set completely free; released |
| कौन्तेयkaunteya | Arjuna, son of Kunti |
| तमोद्वारैःtamo-dvāraiḥ | the gates of darkness (tamaḥ + dvāraiḥ, joined by sandhi) |
| त्रिभिःtribhiḥ | three |
| नरःnaraḥ | the person, a human being |
| आचरतिācarati | practises, works at, carries out |
| आत्मनःātmanaḥ | of one's own self |
| श्रेयःśreyaḥ | what is truly good, the real benefit |
| ततःtataḥ | from that, thereafter |
| यातिyāti | goes, arrives at |
| पराम्parām | highest, supreme |
| गतिम्gatim | state reached, destination |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16 Verse 22 mean?
It means that once desire, anger and greed no longer govern you, you become able to do what is actually good for you — and that capacity itself carries you to the highest state. Krishna does not promise reward for restraint. He describes what becomes possible when the three gates close: your own welfare finally becomes something you can serve.
What is the meaning of etair vimuktah kaunteya tamodvarais tribhir narah?
Etaiḥ vimuktaḥ means released from these — the three named in the previous verse. Tamo-dvāraiḥ calls them gates of darkness: not punishments, but openings one walks through. The one who stops walking through them, Krishna tells Arjuna, works his own śreyas and reaches parāṁ gatim, the supreme destination.
Why are desire, anger and greed called gates rather than sins?
Because a gate is something you pass through, not something done to you. Kāma, krodha and lobha do not trap you where you stand; they lead you somewhere, and the leading is the danger. Krishna keeps the language architectural on purpose. You are not condemned by them. You are relocated by them, one step at a time.
What does it mean to work for your own good in this verse?
Ātmanaḥ śreyaḥ is not comfort or advantage. Śreyas is the good that lasts, as opposed to the pleasant that flatters. While the three gates stand open, your effort quietly serves the wanting rather than you. Close them and the same effort begins, for the first time, to benefit the one making it.
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Commentary
Three gates, and each one a door you walked through yourself. Krishna has just named them for Arjuna — desire, anger, greed — and now names the freedom: not a reward for good behaviour, but simply the room to act at last in your own favour. Notice what the verse assumes. While those gates stand open, whatever you do is done for something else — the wanting, the grudge, the hoarding. You were never working for yourself; you were working for them. Step free and the same hands do the same work, but the good of it comes home. Check whose errand your day is running.