Chapter 4, Verse 10
वीतरागभयक्रोधा मन्मया मामुपाश्रिताः | बहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूता मद्भावमागताः ||४-१०||
vītarāgabhayakrodhā manmayā māmupāśritāḥ . bahavo jñānatapasā pūtā madbhāvamāgatāḥ ||4-10||
Meaning
4.10 Freed from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the fire of knowledge, many have attained to My Being.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna describes the inner condition of those who have reached Him. Three great enemies must be released: rāga (attachment), bhaya (fear), and krodha (anger) — the very forces that bind us to the ego and its cravings. Freed from these, the seeker becomes manmaya, wholly absorbed in the divine, and takes refuge in it alone.
The purifying agent is jñāna-tapas — the austerity of knowledge. Wisdom itself is a fire that burns away inner impurity. This verse offers great encouragement with the word bahavaḥ — 'many.' Liberation is not a rare miracle reserved for a chosen few; countless seekers have walked this path and arrived. What is required is not special birth but the steady release of attachment, fear, and anger, and refuge in the supreme.
💡 Key Takeaway
Release attachment, fear, and anger; let knowledge purify you — and union with the divine becomes not rare but attainable.
Related Verses
जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः | त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन ||४-९||
janma karma ca me divyamevaṃ yo vetti tattvataḥ . tyaktvā dehaṃ punarjanma naiti māmeti so.arjuna ||4-9||
4.9 He who thus know, in their true light, My divine birth and action, having abandoned the body, is not born again, he comes to Me, O Arjuna.
न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा | इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते ||४-१४||
na māṃ karmāṇi limpanti na me karmaphale spṛhā . iti māṃ yo.abhijānāti karmabhirna sa badhyate ||4-14||
4.14 Actions do not taint Me, nor have I a desire for the fruit of actions. He who knows Me thus is not bound by actions.
एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः | कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम् ||४-१५||
evaṃ jñātvā kṛtaṃ karma pūrvairapi mumukṣubhiḥ . kuru karmaiva tasmāttvaṃ pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṃ kṛtam ||4-15||
4.15 Having known this, the ancient seekers after freedom also performed action; therefore do thou also perform action, as did the ancients in days of yore.