टीका

Commentary

The previous verse described the universal condition: all beings enter embodied life wrapped in the delusion of desire and hatred. This verse describes those who have found a way through. They are defined by two things: their sins are antagatam — completely gone, arrived at their end — and their actions over many births have been punya-karmani — virtuous, meritorious, aligned with dharma. This combination — the absence of accumulated sin and the presence of accumulated virtue — produces the interior spaciousness in which the dualities no longer compel.

The word dvandva-moha-nirmuktaah — freed from the delusion of dualities — does not mean that such a person no longer experiences heat and cold, pleasure and pain, gain and loss. These pairs continue as long as embodiment continues. What has changed is the moha — the delusion, the compulsive reactive grip. The person freed from dvandva-moha still feels, but is not enslaved by feeling. They still experience desire and aversion arising, but these no longer drive the chariot. Awareness has expanded enough to hold experience without being consumed by it.

Such persons worship with dridha-vrataah — firm resolve, steadfast determination. This quality of determined devotion is itself a fruit of the long inner work described above. When the inner life is no longer fragmented by the constant oscillation of attraction and aversion, the energy previously consumed by that oscillation becomes available for genuine, sustained devotion. The devotion of such a person is not enthusiastic one day and absent the next — it is deep, stable, consistent, like a river rather than a fountain.

Historical Context

This verse points to the gradual nature of the purification process. The Bhagavatam (5.5.2) states: mahat-sevaam dvaaram aahur vimuktes — the door to liberation is service to the great souls. The purification of the accumulated mass of sinful reactions across many lifetimes requires time, guidance, pious action, and association with genuine devotees. This chapter’s reference to divine souls who have been purified across births connects to the broader Vedic understanding of karma as accumulated across the vast sweep of cosmic time.