Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 7, Verse 29
जरामरणमोक्षाय मामाश्रित्य यतन्ति ये।
ते ब्रह्म तद्विदुः कृत्स्नमध्यात्मं कर्म चाखिलम्।।
ते ब्रह्म तद्विदुः कृत्स्नमध्यात्मं कर्म चाखिलम्।।
jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya mām āśritya yatanti ye
te brahma tadviduḥ kṛtsnam adhyātmaṁ karma cākhilam
also searched as "jara-marana-mokshaya mam ashritya yatanti ye"
Translation
Those who take refuge in Me and strive for deliverance from old age and death, know Brahman (or the Self) and all about the nature of that Self, and the entire Karma (or activities leading to rebirth).
Vāṇi's rendering
Those who shelter in me to be free of old age and death come to know the eternal, the self, all action.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जरामरणमोक्षायjarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya | for freedom from old age and death |
| माम्mām | me |
| आश्रित्यāśritya | having taken shelter in |
| यतन्तिyatanti | they strive, they make the effort |
| येye | those who |
| तेte | they |
| ब्रह्मbrahma | the eternal, the ground of all that is |
| तत्tat | that |
| विदुःviduḥ | come to know |
| कृत्स्नम्kṛtsnam | wholly, without remainder |
| अध्यात्मम्adhyātmam | the self, what stands behind the person |
| कर्मkarma | action, and how it works |
| चca | and (joined in sandhi as cākhilam) |
| अखिलम्akhilam | entire, all of it |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 29 mean?
It means that those who turn to Krishna out of a wish to be free of aging and dying end up knowing far more than they asked for. They came for rescue and received the whole picture — brahman, the self, the working of karma. Shelter is the door; knowledge is the room behind it.
What does jara-marana-mokshaya mam ashritya yatanti ye teach us?
That fear of death is a legitimate starting point. Krishna does not correct the motive before accepting the seeker. You come as you are, frightened of losing everything, and take hold. The striving is yours; the knowing is given. Very little is asked of you at the beginning.
Do I need to understand Brahman before I can take refuge in Krishna?
No. This verse reverses the order most of us assume. Understanding is not the entrance fee — āśritya comes first, viduḥ comes after. You take shelter without clarity, and clarity arrives as a consequence. Waiting until you comprehend is simply a longer way of not beginning.
Why does this verse mention karma alongside Brahman and the self?
Because they are not separate subjects. To see the eternal is to see how action moves through it, and how the self stands unbound by both. Krishna gives all three at once because they were never really three. The one who shelters stops studying life in fragments.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice the motive Krishna accepts here. Not purity, not philosophy — a plain terror of growing old and dying. That is enough to begin with. Arjuna's own crisis started as fear, and Krishna never asked him to arrive with better reasons. What follows is unexpected: those who shelter come to know. Knowledge is not the ticket in; it is what the shelter hands you. The eternal, the self, the whole working of action — what scholars chase separately — arrives together, to someone who simply stopped running alone. You do not have to understand before you take hold. Take hold, and the understanding follows.