Refuge opens ultimate knowledge.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
जरामरणमोक्षाय मामाश्रित्य यतन्ति ये |ते ब्रह्म तद्विदुः कृत्स्नमध्यात्मं कर्म चाखिलम् ||७-२९||
jarāmaraṇamokṣāya māmāśritya yatanti ye . te brahma tadviduḥ kṛtsnamadhyātmaṃ karma cākhilam ||7-29||
Use this verse when impermanence becomes real.
Meaning
Those who strive for freedom from old age and death, taking refuge in Me, know Brahman, the whole self, and all karma.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Taking refuge in Krishna leads to knowledge of Brahman, self, and karma.
Word-by-word meaning
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Explanation
Krishna connects surrender with ultimate inquiry: freedom from mortality, knowledge of Brahman, self, and karma.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna links the longing for liberation with the fullness of knowledge. Those who, taking refuge in Him, strive to be free from old age and death (jara-marana) come to know Brahman in its entirety — the whole science of the Self (adhyatma) and the whole nature of action (karma). The yearning to transcend mortality, when rooted in surrender, opens into complete understanding.
This verse begins to gather the chapter's threads and points ahead to the closing teaching. The fear of decay and death is, for many, the first spur to seek the Eternal; here that very fear is dignified as a doorway. When one takes refuge in the Divine and strives sincerely, the result is not a partial comfort but a total realisation embracing Self, world, and action alike. The honest confrontation with mortality, turned toward God, becomes the gate to deathless knowledge.
In daily life
Seek Krishna not only for comfort, but liberation.
A seeker facing aging may turn fear into spiritual inquiry.
Try this today
Reflect on one impermanence and one eternal aim.
I take refuge in Krishna for liberation.Reflect
What does mortality teach me to seek?
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Quick check
What does ‘कृत्स्नम् अध्यात्मम्’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on refuge, in other chapters
- Verse 4.10Release attachment, fear, and anger; let knowledge purify you — and union with the divine becomes not rare but attainable.
- Verse 18.50Attaining perfection is not the end but the threshold to realizing the Absolute itself.
- Verse 14.2When you anchor your identity in the eternal rather than the changing, neither beginnings nor endings can shake you.
- Verse 15.4After releasing what binds you, seek refuge in the eternal source from which all life flows.
Swipe left for 7.30 · Live so remembrance becomes natural.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 7.29
Who says Bhagavad Gita 7.29, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 7.29, in Chapter 7, Jnana Vijnana Yoga (Jnana Vijnana Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 7.29 mean?
Those who strive for freedom from old age and death, taking refuge in Me, know Brahman, the whole self, and all karma. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 7.29 for daily life?
Seek Krishna not only for comfort, but liberation. A seeker facing aging may turn fear into spiritual inquiry.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 7.29 mean?
जरामरणमोक्षाय — for liberation from old age and death; माम् आश्रित्य — taking refuge in Me; यतन्ति ये — those who strive; ते ब्रह्म तत् विदुः — they know that Brahman; कृत्स्नम् अध्यात्मम् — in full, the whole knowledge of the Self.
Where does verse 7.29 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 29 of 30 in Chapter 7, Jnana Vijnana Yoga. The next verse is 7.30.