Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 31
ये मे मतमिदं नित्यमनुतिष्ठन्ति मानवाः।
श्रद्धावन्तोऽनसूयन्तो मुच्यन्ते तेऽपि कर्मभिः।।
श्रद्धावन्तोऽनसूयन्तो मुच्यन्ते तेऽपि कर्मभिः।।
ye me matam idaṁ nityam anutiṣṭhanti mānavāḥ
śraddhāvanto ’nasūyanto mucyante te ’pi karmabhiḥ
also searched as "Ye me matam idam nityam anutishthanti manavah"
Translation
Those men who, full of faith, ever practice this teaching of Mine and those who receive it without cavil—even they are released from karma.
Vāṇi's rendering
Those who live what I teach, trusting, without fault-finding, are released from the grip of action.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| येye | those who |
| मेme | my |
| मतम्matam | teaching, settled view |
| इदम्idam | this |
| नित्यम्nityam | constantly, day after day |
| अनुतिष्ठन्तिanutiṣṭhanti | live it out, put it into practice |
| मानवाःmānavāḥ | human beings |
| श्रद्धावन्तःśraddhāvantaḥ | carrying trust (sandhi: written śraddhāvanto before the next word) |
| अनसूयन्तःanasūyantaḥ | not fault-finding, not carping (the initial a- absorbed into the preceding o, written ’nasūyanto) |
| मुच्यन्तेmucyante | are released, are let go |
| तेte | they |
| अपिapi | even, also (written ’pi after te) |
| कर्मभिःkarmabhiḥ | from actions, from the binding hold of deeds |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 31 mean?
Krishna says that those who actually live his teaching — steadily, with trust, and without hunting for its faults — are released from the binding hold of their actions. The emphasis falls on practice rather than assent. Not those who admire the teaching, not those who debate it. Those who do it, daily, and let it work.
What does 'ye me matam idam nityam anutishthanti manavah' mean?
The men and women who constantly carry out this settled view of mine. Anutiṣṭhanti is a verb of standing-in, of taking up a position and holding it — not of understanding. Krishna is describing people whose days have been rearranged by what he said, not people who found it beautiful.
Why does Krishna mention being free from fault-finding?
Because anasūyā is the harder half. Trust opens you; carping keeps you at a safe distance, always half a step outside the teaching, always with an objection in reserve. That reserve is where bondage hides. Krishna asks Arjuna to set down the critic long enough to let the practice touch him.
How can simply following a teaching release someone from karma?
Because what binds is not the deed but the grip — the ownership, the anxious accounting of results. Living this teaching loosens the grip from the inside. The work still happens; you no longer carry it. Krishna adds te ’pi, even they, so no one hearing this can rule themselves out.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice the second condition. Trusting is the one everybody expects; without fault-finding is the one that catches you. Anasūyā — not picking holes. You can practise a teaching for years while quietly arguing with it, and the arguing is what keeps you bound. Krishna is not asking Arjuna to agree with him. He is asking him to stop scanning for the flaw before he has lived a single line of it. And hear te ’pi — even they. The door is wider than Arjuna thinks. Live the thing, without the running commentary, and action loosens its grip on you.