Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 10
वीतरागभयक्रोधा मन्मया मामुपाश्रिताः।
बहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूता मद्भावमागताः।।
बहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूता मद्भावमागताः।।
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ
bahavo jñāna-tapasā pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ
also searched as "Vitaragabhayakrodha manmaya mamupashritah"
Translation
Freed from desire, fear, and wrath, absorbed in Me, depending upon Me, purified by the austerity of knowledge, many have attained My state.
Vāṇi's rendering
Free of craving, fear, and anger, filled with me, sheltering in me, purified by knowing — many have become mine.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| वीतरागभयक्रोधाःvīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā | those whose craving, fear and anger have gone |
| मन्मयाःman-mayā | made of me, filled with me |
| माम्mām | me |
| उपाश्रिताःupāśritāḥ | having taken shelter in |
| बहवःbahavo | many (bahavaḥ before the voiced sound becomes bahavo) |
| ज्ञानतपसाjñāna-tapasā | by the heat, the burning discipline, of knowing |
| पूताःpūtā | purified, made clean |
| मद्भावम्mad-bhāvam | my own being, my state |
| आगताःāgatāḥ | have come to, have reached |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 10 mean?
It means the door has been opened before. Krishna names those who dropped craving, fear and anger, who took shelter in him and were cleaned by knowing — and says there were many of them. The verse is less a rule than a report from the road ahead.
What does the verse beginning 'Vitaragabhayakrodha manmaya mamupashritah' teach?
That the three great grips — rāga, bhaya, krodha — loosen together, not one by one. Craving fears losing, and fear turns to anger when crossed. Fill the same space with Krishna instead, take shelter there, and the grip has nothing left to hold.
What is jnana-tapas, the austerity of knowledge?
Tapas is heat. Knowing is called tapas here because real seeing burns — it consumes the comfortable story you had about yourself. It is not the accumulation of ideas but the steady friction of looking at what is actually true, until what was false has nothing left to feed on.
Why does Krishna say 'many' have reached him?
Because Arjuna is on the edge of believing his situation is unique and unprecedented. Krishna quietly removes that. Others stood where you stand, carrying the same fear, and they arrived. The path is not theoretical. It has been walked, and the walking left marks.
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Commentary
Many. That is the word to sit with. Krishna has just described his own birth and action, and now he says others have already crossed — not one rare saint, but many, over long time. The path is worn. Notice what they put down first: craving, fear, anger. They are not moral failings so much as the grip that keeps a life clenched. And notice what purified them — knowing, held long enough to burn like heat. Arjuna is being told he is not attempting something unprecedented. Neither are you. The ones ahead of you left the road visible; you are walking where feet have already been.