Chapter 5, Verse 17
तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः | गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः ||५-१७||
tadbuddhayastadātmānastanniṣṭhāstatparāyaṇāḥ . gacchantyapunarāvṛttiṃ jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥ ||5-17||
Meaning
5.17 Their intellect absorbed in That, their self being That, established in That, with That for their supreme goal, they go whence there is no return, their sins dispelled by knowledge.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna describes the total absorption of the realized seeker through a fourfold cadence: their intellect rests in That (tad-buddhayah), their very self has become That (tad-atmanah), they are firmly grounded in That (tan-nishthah), and That alone is their supreme goal (tat-parayanah). 'That' is Brahman, the Supreme to which everything in them is now oriented.
Such single-pointed devotion to truth produces two fruits. First, their impurities (kalmasha) are completely washed away by knowledge (jnana-nirdhuta) — the inner residue of past conditioning dissolves. Second, they reach apunaravritti, the state of no return: freedom from the cycle of rebirth. This is the culmination of the path. When mind, identity, conviction, and aspiration all converge on the one Reality, liberation is not a distant hope but a present and irreversible attainment.
💡 Key Takeaway
When mind, heart, and aspiration all converge on the Supreme, knowledge burns away every impurity and you are truly free.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ | तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ||५-२||
śrībhagavānuvāca . saṃnyāsaḥ karmayogaśca niḥśreyasakarāvubhau . tayostu karmasaṃnyāsātkarmayogo viśiṣyate ||5-2||
5.2 The Blessed Lord said Renunciation and the Yoga of action both lead to the highest bliss; but of the two, the Yoga of action is superior to the renunciation of action.
साङ्ख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः | एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम् ||५-४||
sāṅkhyayogau pṛthagbālāḥ pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ . ekamapyāsthitaḥ samyagubhayorvindate phalam ||5-4||
5.4 Children, not the wise, speak of knowledge and the Yoga of action or the performance of action as though they are distinct and different; he who is truly established in one obtains the fruits of both.
यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते | एकं साङ्ख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ||५-५||
yatsāṅkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṃ tadyogairapi gamyate . ekaṃ sāṅkhyaṃ ca yogaṃ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati ||5-5||
5.5 That place which is reached by the Sankhyas or the Jnanis is reached by the Yogis (Karma Yogis). He sees, who sees knowledge and the performance of action (Karma Yoga) as one.