A declaration · expansive in mood · a little context helps
“Clear understanding can carry even the heaviest past across.”
Even if you are the worst of wrongdoers, you will cross all wrongdoing by the raft of knowledge alone.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyeven · even if you are · than wrongdoers · all · most sinful · all · by the raft of knowledge · alone · you will cross over
Even if someone has done terrible things, clear understanding can still carry them beyond the whole burden of wrongdoing.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga" (Knowledge and Renunciation of Action).
Verse 36 sits in Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita — Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga, "Knowledge and Renunciation of Action". The chapter has 42 verses in total.
You replay the mistake in your head after the argument, the lie, the betrayal. Krishna says the mind can stop circling the wound: clear understanding can still carry you through.
Did you like this verse?
The raft of knowledge, Krishna says, carries even the worst wrongdoer across all wrongdoing.
What this verse means
Even if someone has done terrible things, clear understanding can still carry them beyond the whole burden of wrongdoing.
Context & commentary
Krishna keeps teaching Arjuna, frozen by guilt and confusion, how far knowledge reaches: even someone burdened by the worst wrongdoing can cross over it. The next verse shows that this knowledge burns action itself.
What it looks like today
You replay the mistake in your head after the argument, the lie, the betrayal. Krishna says the mind can stop circling the wound: clear understanding can still carry you through.
“Past wrongs, however heavy, can still be crossed through clear understanding.”
Explore related themes: jnana (24 verses)