Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 17
तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः।
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः।।
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः।।
tad-buddhayas tad-ātmānas tan-niṣṭhās tat-parāyaṇāḥ
gacchantyapunar-āvṛttiṁ jñāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣāḥ
also searched as "tad-buddhayas tad-atmanas tan-nishthas tat-parayanah"
Translation
Those whose intellects pursue it, whose minds think about it, who undergo discipline for it, and who hold it as their highest object, have their impurities cleansed by knowledge and go from whence there is no return.
Vāṇi's rendering
Mind fixed there, self given there, standing there, aiming there — cleansed by knowing, they never return.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तद्बुद्धयःtad-buddhayas | their thinking turned to that (sandhi: tad-buddhayaḥ before t) |
| तदात्मानःtad-ātmānas | their very self given to that (sandhi: tad-ātmānaḥ before t) |
| तन्निष्ठाःtan-niṣṭhās | standing firm in that, settled there (sandhi: tan-niṣṭhāḥ before t) |
| तत्परायणाःtat-parāyaṇāḥ | that as their one final aim |
| गच्छन्तिgacchanti | they go, they reach |
| अपुनरावृत्तिम्apunar-āvṛttim | the state of no coming back again (sandhi: gacchanti + apunar-āvṛttim) |
| ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाःjñāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣāḥ | their stain shaken off by knowing |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 17 mean?
It describes one movement, not four. Thought, self, standing and aim all face the same way — tat, that. When nothing in a person is still turned elsewhere, knowing shakes off the old residue, and there is nothing left needing another round. The verse does not command this; it simply reports what such wholeness looks like.
What is the meaning of tadbuddhayas tadatmanas tannishthas tatparayanah?
Mind fixed there, self given there, standing there, aiming there. Four words for one undivided direction. Krishna repeats tat rather than describing it, because what is meant cannot be handed over as a definition — only faced. The repetition is the teaching: not intensity, but the absence of any part still facing away.
What does apunaravritti, no return, actually mean here?
Not a prize granted afterwards. Return happens because something unfinished pulls a person back — kalmaṣa, the residue of grasping. Knowing shakes that loose, and the pull is gone. Nothing is added; the reason for coming back is simply no longer there. That is why Krishna states it flatly, without promise or threat.
How can I practise this verse in ordinary life?
Stop asking for a new discipline and check the alignment of what you already do. Where does your thinking go when it is free? What do you actually stand on? What do you aim at when nobody is watching? Where those three disagree, life keeps returning you to the same lesson.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Four times the same word: tat. That, that, that, that — Krishna does not name it again, because a mind already pointed there needs no name. Notice what is not here. No new practice, no added discipline. Only one direction, taken by everything at once: the thinking, the sense of self, the standing, the aim. Most of us aim at one thing and give ourselves to another; that is why the same lesson keeps returning. Knowing burns nothing away from outside — it dissolves the residue that made the return necessary. Whatever you are wholly turned toward, you will not have to come back for.