Detachment should lead to surrender.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
ततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यंयस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः |तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये |यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी ||१५-४||
tataḥ padaṃ tatparimārgitavyaṃ yasmingatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ . tameva cādyaṃ puruṣaṃ prapadye . yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī ||15-4||
Use this verse after releasing an attachment.
Meaning
Then that supreme state should be sought, reaching which one does not return. One should surrender to that primal Person from whom ancient activity has flowed.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
After cutting attachment, seek the supreme state and surrender to the primal Person.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Detachment is not emptiness. It prepares the seeker to seek the supreme abode and surrender to the original Purusha, Krishna, from whom existence flows.
Read the traditional commentary
Once the tree of bondage is felled, the seeker must not be left adrift — Krishna points to the destination. There is a pada, a supreme state, that must be earnestly sought, and its defining mark is finality: yasmin gatā na nivartanti — those who reach it never return to the cycle of birth and death. This is the liberation that all the spiritual effort has been aiming toward.
The verse then models the very attitude that takes us there: prapadye, 'I take refuge.' The path is not only one of cutting away, but of surrender to the ādyam puruṣam, the primeval Person from whom this ancient cosmic activity has streamed forth since beginningless time.
Detachment clears the ground; refuge in the Divine completes the journey. Krishna shows that liberation is not a cold negation but a warm homecoming to our eternal source.
In daily life
Do not just leave lower attachments; move toward Krishna.
A person quitting a toxic habit should replace it with prayer, study, service, or devotion.
Try this today
Choose one Krishna-centered replacement for one attachment.
I move from detachment into Krishna’s refuge.Reflect
What higher goal will replace my lower attachment?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘यस्मिन् गताः’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on refuge, in other chapters
- Verse 7.14You cannot out-think illusion with the very mind it deludes — but wholehearted refuge in the Divine carries you across.
- Verse 18.66Surrender wholly to the Divine, release anxious self-reliance, and trust completely that grace will free you.
- Verse 2.51The wise who abandon attachment to the fruits of action attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
- Verse 8.16Even the highest heaven is temporary; aim not for a better place within the cycle but for freedom from it altogether.
Swipe left for 15.5 · Liberation requires inner purification.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 15.4
Who says Bhagavad Gita 15.4, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 15.4, in Chapter 15, Purushottama Yoga (Purushottama Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 15.4 mean?
Then that supreme state should be sought, reaching which one does not return. One should surrender to that primal Person from whom ancient activity has flowed. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 15.4 for daily life?
Do not just leave lower attachments; move toward Krishna. A person quitting a toxic habit should replace it with prayer, study, service, or devotion.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 15.4 mean?
ततः — thereafter; पदम् तत् — that goal / state; परिमार्गितव्यम् — should be sought; यस्मिन् गताः — having gone to which; न निवर्तन्ति भूयः — they do not return again.
Where does verse 15.4 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 4 of 20 in Chapter 15, Purushottama Yoga. The next verse is 15.5.