Devanagari
ये मे मतमिदं नित्यमनुतिष्ठन्ति मानवाः ।
श्रद्धावन्तोऽनसूयन्तो मुच्यन्ते तेऽपि कर्मभिः ॥ ३१ ॥
Verse text
ye me matam idaṁ nityam
anutiṣṭhanti mānavāḥ
śraddhāvanto ’nasūyanto
mucyante te ’pi karmabhiḥ
Synonyms
ye
—
those who
;
me
—
My
;
matam
—
injunctions
;
idam
—
these
;
nityam
—
as an eternal function
;
anutiṣṭhanti
—
execute regularly
;
mānavāḥ
—
human beings
;
śraddhā-vantaḥ
—
with faith and devotion
;
anasūyantaḥ
—
without envy
;
mucyante
—
become free
;
te
—
all of them
;
api
—
even
;
karmabhiḥ
—
from the bondage of the law of fruitive actions.
Translation
Those persons who execute their duties according to My injunctions and who follow this teaching faithfully, without envy, become free from the bondage of fruitive actions.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
31. Those who always follow My teaching with faith and without envy are free from the bondage of actions.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
31. Only those who always follow my teaching with faith and without envy are free from the bondage of actions.
Purport
The injunction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the essence of all Vedic wisdom and therefore is eternally true without exception. As the Vedas are eternal, so this truth of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is also eternal. One should have firm faith in this injunction, without envying the Lord. There are many philosophers who write comments on the Bhagavad-gītā but have no faith in Kṛṣṇa. They will never be liberated from the bondage of fruitive action. But an ordinary man with firm faith in the eternal injunctions of the Lord, even though unable to execute such orders, becomes liberated from the bondage of the law of karma. In the beginning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one may not fully discharge the injunctions of the Lord, but because one is not resentful of this principle and works sincerely without consideration of defeat and hopelessness, he will surely be promoted to the stage of pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In this verse the Lord speaks to encourage people to take up His teaching.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
This verse, speaking of the result for those who following the Lord’s teaching, the secret of the Vedas, indicates the supreme position of this teaching.
Only (api) those men who always (nityam) follow My teaching, (another meaning: who following the teaching of the Vedas with no beginning because the śrutis are eternal), with firm faith (śraddhāvantaḥ), without having the feeling that it is a fault for one interested in liberation to participate in useless material actions which are only a waste of time (anusūyanto), are free from bondage of action. Api has the sense of limitation (only) in this verse.
Another meaning is as follows. Those who follow My teachings, and even those who cannot follow but have faith and also do not disrespect the teachings—even they can be free of the bondage of action. Even though at the present time they cannot follow, by faith in the teachings and lack of envy, their obstacles decrease. A little later, performing the instructions, they become free.
Surrender Unto Me
This "without envy" is very important. One shouldn't resent that he has to do what he was told to do. He should whatever he is supposed to do as his duty. Arjuna didn't have to consider the order of the Lord, "please Krsna give me fifty reasons why I should fight in the battle", he just had to execute the order because he had surrended to Krsna, he knew that Krsna was the Lord, the spiritual master ‑ and when that was accepted he had to sacrifice his own desires for the pleasure of the Lord. That is Krsna consciousness. There is no Krsna consciousness without surrender. This is a very difficult thing for the conditioned souls to accept because they are envious of Krsna.