Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 9, Verse 28
शुभाशुभफलैरेवं मोक्ष्यसे कर्मबन्धनैः।
संन्यासयोगयुक्तात्मा विमुक्तो मामुपैष्यसि।।
संन्यासयोगयुक्तात्मा विमुक्तो मामुपैष्यसि।।
śubhāśubha-phalair evaṁ mokṣyase karma-bandhanaiḥ
sannyāsa-yoga-yuktātmā vimukto mām upaiṣyasi
also searched as "shubhashubha phalair evam mokshyase karma bandhanaih"
Translation
Thus equipped in mind with the Yoga of renunciation, you will free yourself from the bonds of Karma, productive of both auspicious and inauspicious fruits. Thus liberated, you will come to Me.
Vāṇi's rendering
Offer all you do, and you slip the bonds of karma, good and bad alike — and freed, you come to me.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| शुभśubha | good, auspicious |
| अशुभaśubha | bad, inauspicious (joined to the previous word by sandhi: śubha + aśubha) |
| फलैःphalaiḥ | by the fruits, by the results (appears as phalair before evaṁ) |
| एवम्evam | thus, in this way |
| मोक्ष्यसेmokṣyase | you will be released, you will slip free |
| कर्मबन्धनैःkarma-bandhanaiḥ | from the bonds of action |
| संन्यासयोगsannyāsa-yoga | the practice of laying down what you do, offering rather than owning |
| युक्तात्माyukta-ātmā | one whose whole self is settled in that practice |
| विमुक्तःvimuktaḥ | wholly freed (appears as vimukto before mām) |
| माम्mām | to me |
| उपैष्यसिupaiṣyasi | you will come, you will arrive |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 Verse 28 mean?
It means the offering of an action cuts its hold on you. Krishna names both kinds of fruit — śubha and aśubha — because merit binds as surely as fault. When nothing done is held as yours to collect, the chain has nothing to fasten to, and what remains free comes to him.
What does shubhashubha phalair evam mokshyase mean in simple words?
Freed from the fruits, the good ones and the bad ones alike. Krishna is not promising Arjuna good results instead of bad ones. He is taking the whole account away — the debts and the credits together — so that nothing done is left waiting for payment.
Why does good karma also bind a person?
Because a reward makes you a creditor, and a creditor is tied to the one who owes. You wait, you calculate, you check what is due. That waiting is the bondage, whatever colour the fruit. Krishna frees Arjuna from the ledger itself, not from one column of it.
Does sannyasa in this verse mean giving up work?
No. Krishna has just told Arjuna to offer whatever he eats, gives and does — that is the sannyāsa meant here. The work continues. What is laid down is ownership of it. You act fully and hold nothing back for yourself afterwards.
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Commentary
Notice which bond Krishna names first. Good fruit binds too. Arjuna wants clean hands and a good outcome; Krishna tells him the reward ties as tightly as the punishment. A golden chain is still a chain, and the one who is owed something is tied to whoever owes it. Sannyāsa here is not walking away from work — it is dropping the claim on what the work produces. Offer the act, and no ledger is left with your name on it. Nothing to collect, nothing to dread. What arrives at Krishna is whoever has stopped waiting to be paid.