FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 4.10

వీతరాగభయక్రోధా మన్మయా మాముపాశ్రితాః । బహవో జ్ఞానతపసా పూతా మద్భ‍ావమాగతాః ॥ ౧౦ ॥
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā
[veeta-raaga-bhaya-krodhaa]
man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ
[man-mayaa maam upaashritaah]
bahavo jñāna-tapasā
[bahavo jnaana-tapasaa]
pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ
[pootaa mad-bhaavam aagataah]
Word-for-word
vīta — freed from rāga — attachment bhaya — fear krodhāḥ — and anger mat - mayāḥ — fully in Me mām — in Me upāśritāḥ — being fully situated bahavaḥ — many jñāna — of knowledge tapasā — by the penance pūtāḥ — being purified mat - bhāvam — transcendental love for Me āgatāḥ — attained .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā
vīta
freed from
rāga
attachment
bhaya
fear
krodhāḥ
and anger
man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ
mat - mayāḥ
fully in Me
mām
in Me
upāśritāḥ
being fully situated
bahavo jñāna-tapasā
bahavaḥ
many
jñāna
of knowledge
tapasā
by the penance
pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ
pūtāḥ
being purified
mat - bhāvam
transcendental love for Me
āgatāḥ
attained .
Important Words
  • vīta — freed from
    Past passive participle of vi + √i — 'gone away from.' Not 'controlling' rāga-bhaya-krodha but having moved beyond them. The verse describes those who have already passed through, not those mid-struggle.
  • rāga — attachment
    From √rañj — 'to color.' Attachment colors the mind so it cannot see Kṛṣṇa clearly. The first of the triad because it is the most common bondage — the gentle one we forget is a bondage.
  • bhaya — fear
    From √bhī. The second smoke. Fear contracts the heart and prevents surrender. A devotee who fears has not yet trusted the upāśritāḥ — the taking of refuge — that the same verse describes.
  • krodhāḥ — and anger
    Plural masculine. The third smoke. Anger is the heat that rises when rāga is obstructed. The triad is psychologically ordered: attachment is the seed, fear is its shadow, anger is its eruption.
  • mat - mayāḥ — fully in Me
    Mat (Me) + mayā (made-of). 'Made of Me, full of Me.' Stronger than 'thinking of Me' — the consciousness has been entirely shaped by Kṛṣṇa. This is the positive replacement for the three smokes.
  • tapasā — by the penance
    Instrumental of tapas — 'by austerity.' The verse pairs it with jñāna ('of knowledge') to form jñāna-tapas: the austerity *of* knowledge. Not separate study and separate austerity — the knowing is the burning. This is the verse's mechanism of transformation.
Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of Me – and thus they all attained transcendental love for Me.
Purport

As described above, it is very difficult for a person who is too materially affected to understand the personal nature of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Generally, people who are attached to the bodily conception of life are so absorbed in materialism that it is almost impossible for them to understand how the Supreme can be a person. Such materialists cannot even imagine that there is a transcendental body which is imperishable, full of knowledge and eternally blissful. In the materialistic concept, the body is perishable, full of ignorance and completely miserable. Therefore, people in general keep this same bodily idea in mind when they are informed of the personal form of the Lord. For such materialistic men, the form of the gigantic material manifestation is supreme. Consequently they consider the Supreme to be impersonal. And because they are too materially absorbed, the conception of retaining the personality after liberation from matter frightens them. When they are informed that spiritual life is also individual and personal, they become afraid of becoming persons again, and so they naturally prefer a kind of merging into the impersonal void. Generally, they compare the living entities to the bubbles of the ocean, which merge into the ocean. That is the highest perfection of spiritual existence attainable without individual personality. This is a kind of fearful stage of life, devoid of perfect knowledge of spiritual existence. Furthermore there are many persons who cannot understand spiritual existence at all. Being embarrassed by so many theories and by contradictions of various types of philosophical speculation, they become disgusted or angry and foolishly conclude that there is no supreme cause and that everything is ultimately void. Such people are in a diseased condition of life. Some people are too materially attached and therefore do not give attention to spiritual life, some of them want to merge into the supreme spiritual cause, and some of them disbelieve in everything, being angry at all sorts of spiritual speculation out of hopelessness. This last class of men take to the shelter of some kind of intoxication, and their affective hallucinations are sometimes accepted as spiritual vision. One has to get rid of all three stages of material consciousness: attachment to material life, fear of a spiritual personal identity, and the conception of void that arises from frustration in life. To get free from these three stages of the material concept of life, one has to take complete shelter of the Lord, guided by the bona fide spiritual master, and follow the disciplines and regulative principles of devotional life. The last stage of the devotional life is called bhāva, or transcendental love of Godhead. According to Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.4.15–16), the science of devotional service: ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu- saṅgo ’tha bhajana-kriyā tato ’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañcati sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ “In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In the next stage one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee begins the process of devotional service. By execution of devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization, and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is matured in bhāva, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love of God. Real love for God is called prema, the highest perfectional stage of life.” In the prema stage there is constant engagement in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. So, by the slow process of devotional service, under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, one can attain the highest stage, being freed from all material attachment, from the fearfulness of one’s individual spiritual personality, and from the frustrations that result in void philosophy. Then one can ultimately attain to the abode of the Supreme Lord.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
10. Having given up attachment, fear and anger towards the demons, absorbed in Me with hearing and chanting, having taken shelter of Me, many persons, purified by the austerity (tolerating opposition) of that true knowledge of My birth and activities, attained love for Me.
Commentary

Not only at the present time can one attain Me just by knowing about the nature of My present birth and activities, but in ancient times also, in previous kalpas when I appeared, people attained Me by knowing the nature of My birth and activities. That is the purport of this verse. Regarding the meaning of jṣāna-tapasā, Rāmānujācārya says, “They became purified by the austerity of realization about the nature of My birth and activities as previously stated.” Or the meaning can be: “They, having attained realization of the eternal nature of My birth and activities, became purified by austerity in the form of tolerating the burning poison of wrong ideas, wrong logic and wrong arguments.” Rāmānujācārya quotes the following śruti in this regard. tasya dhīrāḥ parijānanti yoniṁ The wise men know about the Lord’s method of birth. Taittirīya Āraṇyaka 3.13.1 Such wise persons have given up attachment to or affection for persons who speak nonsense ideas (vīta-rāgaḥ). My devotees have no fear of them, nor anger towards them. Why? Because they are preoccupied with meditating on, thinking of, hearing and singing about My birth and activities (man-mayā). They attained prema for Me (mad-bhāvam).

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
10. Having given up attachment, fear and anger towards those who do not believe in My eternal nature, having faith only in Me, serving Me whole-heartedly, many persons, purified by the austerity of attaining that true knowledge of My birth and activities, attained love for Me.
Commentary

As in the present time, in the past also, many persons gained liberation by knowing the eternal nature of My birth and activities. The Lord speaks to confirm the eternal nature of His birth and activities. Many persons in ancient times, being purified by the austerity of knowledge, attained bhāva for Me. That is the order of the sentence. Knowledge means “knowledge of My eternal birth and activities.” Because this knowledge of My eternal birth and activities arises only by analysis of the difficult śruti passages, it is called an austerity. Or austerity can refer to the suffering in removal of the bad arguments and opposing ideas. Being purified by that removal of bad ideas, cleansed of ignorance, many persons attained prema for Me (bhāvam), or attained existence (bhāvam) with Me— direct association with Me. What type of people were these? These persons had given up attraction to, fear of, and hatred of those persons who oppose the eternality of the Lord’s birth, because they were completely engaged in serving Me (upaśritāḥ), with faith in Me alone (man mayā).

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

Beyond liberation is this stage of attaining transcendental love for Krsna (puta mad‑bhavam agatah). This verse is very interesting. Without knowledge of Krsna how can one become absorbed in Krsna? One must know about Krsna, hear about Him, one must have transcendental knowledge about Krsna. And this transcendental knowledge is far beyond the transcendental knowledge that we are not this body that we spiritual soul. And when one has this knowledge of Krsna he becomes purified (puta mad‑bhavam agatah) and attains transcendental nature and love for Him. Each step here is wonderful. Being free from material attachment, material fears, material anger. This was described in the covering of the soul ‑ lust and anger. Attachments, passion and ignorance, and fear. When one is free from these things due to transcendental knowledge he becomes fully absorbed in Krsna and then thinking about Krsna he surrenders to Him, he takes shelter or refuge in Him ‑ these are the points of the verse. And by doing that, many, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of Krsna. Constantly, just simply taking refuge and shelter of Krsna, the result of that, being purified and taking shelter of Krsna and always thinking about Krsna, being absorbed in Him this is "mad‑bhavam agatah" ‑ one attains transcendental love for Krsna.

[ B . TRANSCENDENTAL KNOWLEDGE APPLIED TO WORK (4. 11‑15) 1 . Everyone ultimately surrenders to Krsna, for it is Krsna that is awarding fruits of work. (11‑12) ]

Now in this Section is about how to apply this transcendental knowledge. We have heard that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Every verse where Krsna speaks starts by "Sri Bhagavan uvaca". "Van" means the "possessor" and "Bhaga" means "all opulence and fortune". Krsna possesses all opulence and fortune because He is the Supreme Lord. Now Krsna explains something interesting. We have just heard that one who takes refuge in Krsna attains transcendental love for Him, because that is what they want, they are devotees. But what happens if one takes shelter of Krsna but doesn't want attain transcendental love for Him? Some people do that, they want to achieve liberation, they want material things..., do they get transcendental love for Krsna? Krsna answers,

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

COMMON THEME: Krishna reveals His transcendental position about His birth and activities

Text 4.5 and 4.6 talks about ‘His appearance and disappearance’
Text 4.5: My birth and death are not like yours
Text 4.6: I appear in My original transcendental form which is unborn and never dies , I appear by My own will
Texts 4.7 – 4.8 talks about ‘His activities.’ It explains when and why Krishna appears – reasons of descent:
When
Decline in religion
Predominant rise in irreligion
Why
To annihilate the demons
To deliver the devotees (from anxiety to see the Lord)
To re-establish the principles of religion
Text 4.9 – 4.10 talks about the result of understanding the knowledge of ‘transcendental birth’ (Texts 4.5 & 4.6) and ‘activities’ (Texts 4.7 & 4.8)
To be absorbed in Krishna
Become purified
Freed from attachment, fear and anger
Attain love for Krishna
Go back to Krishna (Transcendental abode)
No re-birth in material world

PLEASE NOTE: All Themes of Texts 4.5 – 4.10 are described above under the common theme and their purports

are described in their respective Focus of Learning sections below. Only some points of the purports of Texts 4.5

and 4.6, are described under the Summarsized Theme 4A.

SUMMARISED THEME 4A

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN KRISHNA AND THE CONDITIONED LIVING ENTITY
(4.5 – 4.6 purports)

S.No

Krishna

Conditioned Living entity

Eternal and remembers past, present and future (Acyuta: never forgets – infallible)
Eternal but forgets
Remembers all births because body does not change or deteriorate (Avyayam)
Forgets because body changes and deteriorates
Appears by own will
Forced to appear by karma
Body is transcendental
Body is material
No difference between body and self (Adwaita)
The soul acquires an external body (gross and subtle)

Focus of Learning

(a) Peculiarity of Lord’s birth

Lord appears like an ordinary person
But remembers many many past births
Common man cannot remember past few hours, therefore no-one can claim to be God

(b) Lord has many incarnations but He is original

Ref. Vedas – Analogy: Lord is like the Vaidurya stone which changes color but still remains one (Lord manifests so many innumerable forms)
Ref. Brahma-Samhita 5.33; 5.39

(c) Qualification to understand these multi-forms – and example of such a qualified person

Only by pure unalloyed devotion and not by simple study of the Vedas, can one understand
e.g. Arjuna incarnates as one of the associate devotees in all incarnations

(d) Difference between ‘devotee forgetting the nature of Lord’ and ‘demon not understanding’

Devotee may forget but by His divine grace, one immediately understands the infallible nature of the Lord
Non-devotee never understands

(e) Living entity can never equal the Lord (4.5)

Lord is Achyuta (Infallible) – Never forgets Himself and His previous births even in material contact
Lord is Advaita – There is no distinction between His body and Self, therefore He does not change His spiritual body and never forgets His past births
Living entity, however great, spiritually liberated or materially great, can never equal the Lord, e.g. Arjuna
Materially – He is famous as ‘Parantapa’ (Subduer of enemies)
Spiritually – is one of the liberated associates

(f) ‘Atma-maya’ (4.6) – means

Lord descends by ‘internal potency’ and not by ‘external potency’
Lord’s body and intelligence never deteriorates (‘avyayam’) and is never contaminated by material nature (thus it defeats Mayavada teaching)
Prakriti means nature or ‘svarupa’ (own form)
Analogy: His appearance and disappearance are likes the sun’s rising and setting
He is always the “Lord of all living entities” – evident by wonderful and superhuman acts on Earth
‘Atma-maya’ also means that Lord descends by ‘causeless mercy’ so that we can concentrate on His form as He is and not on ‘Mental concoctions and imaginations’
Ref. Amara-kosa dictionary

(a) Definition of Sadhu – A man in Krishna consciousness, apparently may be irreligious but if he is

wholly and fully Krishna conscious, he is a sadhu

(b) Definition of ‘Duskrtam’ – Does not care for Krishna consciousness

(c) Prime purpose of any Avatara

To appease His unalloyed devotees e.g. Prahlada Maharaja and Devaki
Otherwise the athiests can be dealt with by the Lord’s agents

(d) Ref. Caitanya-caritamrta on (Principles of Incarnation)

The avatara, or incarnation of Godhead, descends from the kingdom of God for material manifestation
And the particular form of the Personality of Godhead who descends is called an incarnation, or avatara
Such incarnations are situated in the spiritual world, the kingdom of God. When they descend to the material creation, they assume the name avatara

(e) Why specifically does Lord Krishna descend (Prime purpose) – To mitigate anxieties of pure

devotees who are anxious to see His Vrindavana pastimes

(a) How the Lord incarnates – By His internal potency – This is indicated by the word ‘Srjami’

Meaning of ‘Srjami’ – Lord is not created or born but “manifests” as per free will
‘Srjami’ is mentioned as “manifests” because Text 4.6 refutes the Lord being born or created, by calling Him as ‘aja’

(b) When does the Lord incarnate – Usual schedule of Lord’s appearance

End of Dvapara-yuga of 28th millennium of seventh Manu of a day of Brahma
But no obligation to rule

(c) For what purpose does the Lord decend – Lord comes to establish “principles of dharma”

What are the ‘principles of dharma’ – Direct orders of Supreme Personality of Godhead
Ref. SB 6.3.19 “Dharmam tu…”
What is ‘Highest dharma’ – Surrender unto Him only

(d) Certain facts about ‘Avatara’

Mission: Comes with mission, e.g. Lord Buddha came to establish Vedic principles of ‘Non-violence’
Sanctioned: Mentioned in scriptures – criteria to accept
Place: Can appear anywhere, not only on Indian soil
Message: Speaks as per audience, e.g. higher and lower mathematics
Common mission:
To lead people to God-consciousness,
Obedience to the principles of religion

(e) Bhagavad-gita is for highly advanced people, e.g. Arjuna (higher principles of religion begin with

Varna-asrama)

(a) Liberation of living entity from material bondage is not very easy – Two paths are possible:

Path of impersonalism and yoga
Path of devotees

(b) Path of Impersonalists and yogis

Endeavor – Not very easy - many, many births
Goal – Only partial success, brahmajyoti
Safety – Risk of fall-down

(c) Path of Devotees in Krishna consciousness

Endeavor – Very easy, one has to simply understand the transcendental nature of Lord’s birth and activities (4.9)
Goal – Abode of Krishna – Thus complete success is assured
Safety – Lord protects from falldown again into the material world

(d) Who can attain ‘Perfection of liberation’

A faithful devotee, who accepts Krishna’s protection with faith
One who accepts Krishna as Supreme Personality of Godhead
He has many transcendental forms
These forms have relations with unalloyed devotees
One who does not waste time in philosophical speculations
Ref. Brahma Samhita, Vedas, Svetasvatara Upanisad (study purport)

(e) Fate of other processes like empiric philosophers and puffed-up mundane scholars

Waste of time
May get important roles in material world, not liberation
Analogy: licking the outer surface of a bottle of honey

(f) What is the hope for these speculators etc. – ‘Only causeless mercy of devotee of the Lord’

(g) Conclusive suggestion – Cultivate Krishna consciousness with faith and knowledge and attain

perfection

(f) Who is the ‘Avatara’ for Kali-yuga – Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu

How does he spread religion and deliver miscreants – Propogated Sankirtan Movement throughout India
Sastric proof – This Avatara is mentioned secretly and not directly in Upanisads, Mahabharata and Srimad Bhagavatam
Mission
He does not kill but delivers by causeless mercy
Predicts the broadcast of Sankirtana movement all over the world
Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
4.10 Bahavah, many; vita-raga-bhaya-krodhah, who were devoid of attachment, fear and anger; manmayah, who were absorbed in Me, who were knowers of Brahman, who were seers of (their) identity with God; mam upasrithah, who had taken refuge only in Me, the supreme God, i.e. who were steadfast in Knowledge alone; and were putah, purified, who had become supremely sanctified; jnana-tapasa, by the austerity of Knowledge-Knowledge itself, about the supreme Reality, being the austerity; becoming sanctified by that austerity of Knowledge-; agatah, have attained; madbhavam, My state, Goodhood, Liberation. The particular mention of 'the austerity of Knowledge' is to indicate that steadfastness in Knowledge does not depend on any other austerity. 'In that case, You have love and aversion, because of which You grant the state of identity with Yourself only to a few but not to others?' The answer is:
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
4.10 Purified by the austerity called knowledge of the truth of My life and deeds, many have become transformed in this manner. The Sruti says to the same effect: 'The wise know well the manner in which He is born' (Tai. A., 3.13.1). 'Dhiras' means the foremost among the wise. The meaning is the wise know the manner of His birth thus. It is not that I protect only those who resort to Me in incarnations in the shapes of gods, men etc.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
4.10 Vita-etc. Therefore many persons, who realise in this manner are free anger etc., because they have [all] their desires completely fulfilled, due to their being full of Me; and who perform actions which are to be performed and which do not yield any fruit [for them] - they have attained My own nature. For-
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
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.
Commentary

4.10 वीतरागभयक्रोधाः freed from attachment? fear and anger? मन्मयाः absorbed in Me? माम् Me? उपाश्रिताः taking refuge in? बहवः many? ज्ञानतपसा by the fire of knowledge? पूताः purified? मद्भावम् My Being? आगताः have attained.Commentary When one gets knowledge of the Self? attachment to senseobjects ceases. When he realises he is the constant? indestructible? eternal Self and that change is simply a ality of the body? then he becomes fearless. When he becomes desireless? when he is free from selfishness? when he beholds the Self only everywhere? how can anger arise in himHe who takes refuge in Brahman or the Absolute becomes firmly devoted to Him. He becomes,absorbed in Him (Brahmalina or Brahmanishtha). Jnanatapas is the fire of wisdom. Just as fire burns cotton? so also this Jnanatapas burns all the latent tendencies (Vasanas)? cravings (Trishnas)? mental impressions (Samskaras)? sins and all actions? and purifies the aspirants. (Cf.II.56IV.19to37).

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
4.10 Many who were devoid of attachment, fear and anger, who were absorbed in Me, who had taken refuge in Me, and were purified by the austerity of Knowledge, have attained My state.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
4.10 Many have merged their existences in Mine, being freed from desire, fear and anger, filled always with Me and purified by the illuminating flame of self-abnegation.
Related values & verses
Primary values
Abhaya (Fearlessness)
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)
Related verses
BG 2.56 BG 12.13 BG 18.54 SB 3.25.25 SB 11.14.26 SB 1.2.19 CC Madhya 22.87 CC Madhya 19.149 CC Madhya 23.13 Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.9BRS 1.4.15
Concepts
Bhava
Study Q&A referencing this verse
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Freed from attachment, fear, and anger, fully absorbed in Me — taking refuge in Me — many have been purified by knowledge of Me and attained love of Me.
Practical Applications
  • Identify which of the three — attachment, fear, anger — most binds you, and bring it to Kṛṣṇa.
  • Use absorption in Kṛṣṇa's name as the alchemy.
  • Trust that the same purification offered to past devotees is offered to you.
Reflection Questions
  • Which of these three is the loudest in me?
  • How is full absorption in Kṛṣṇa the actual antidote?
Analogy

A fire of three smokes — attachment, fear, anger — chokes the lamp of devotion. Clear those smokes and the same lamp blazes. The verse lists the three exhausts of ego-life, and in the same breath names the alchemical fire (jñāna-tapas) that converts each into love.

Stories
The Pracetās emerging from austerity

The ten Pracetās performed austerities under the ocean for ten thousand years, fully absorbed in the Lord. Bhāgavatam records that they emerged purified by the tapas of knowledge — free of attachment to the world they had left, free of fear of what they would find, free of anger toward the obstacles that had delayed them.

The verse's promise — vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā... mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ — describes precisely the state in which the Pracetās stepped from the water. Many have walked this path; the verse names the path so we know it is walked.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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