A declaration · devotional in mood · a little context helps
“Purified minds reach what fear and craving cannot.”
Many, purified by the austerity of knowledge, free from attachment, fear, and anger, absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, have attained My being.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyfree from attachment, fear, and anger · mind fixed in Me · taking refuge in Me · many · by the austerity of knowledge · purified · My being/state · have attained
People who shed attachment, fear, and anger, and stay centered in the divine, become purified through knowledge and reach that divine state.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga" (Knowledge and Renunciation of Action).
Verse 10 sits in Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita — Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga, "Knowledge and Renunciation of Action". The chapter has 42 verses in total.
An old man estranged from his brother for twenty years decides to visit him in hospital. Before he goes, he checks whether fear, anger or old clinging is still steering him, and lets them go.
Did you like this verse?
Freed of attachment, fear and anger, purified by knowledge, many have reached Krishna's own being.
What this verse means
People who shed attachment, fear, and anger, and stay centered in the divine, become purified through knowledge and reach that divine state.
Context & commentary
Krishna has just explained that understanding his divine nature leads beyond rebirth. He now adds that many have reached him by becoming free of attachment, fear, and anger, and by purifying themselves through knowledge. The teaching becomes concrete here, showing the inner condition that makes realization possible.
What it looks like today
An old man estranged from his brother for twenty years decides to visit him in hospital. Before he goes, he checks whether fear, anger or old clinging is still steering him, and lets them go.
“Inner freedom feels possible when the mind is no longer ruled by fear or reaction.”
Explore related themes: vairagya (51 verses)