Devanagari
तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणा: ।
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषा: ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
tad-buddhayas tad-ātmānas
tan-niṣṭhās tat-parāyaṇāḥ
gacchanty apunar-āvṛttiṁ
jṣāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣāḥ
Synonyms
tat-buddhayaḥ
—
those whose intelligence is always in the Supreme
;
tat-ātmānaḥ
—
those whose minds are always in the Supreme
;
tat-niṣṭhāḥ
—
those whose faith is only meant for the Supreme
;
tat-parāyaṇāḥ
—
who have completely taken shelter of Him
;
gacchanti
—
go
;
apunaḥ-āvṛttim
—
to liberation
;
jṣāna
—
by knowledge
;
nirdhūta
—
cleansed
;
kalmaṣāḥ
—
misgivings.
Translation
When one’s intelligence, mind, faith and refuge are all fixed in the Supreme, then one becomes fully cleansed of misgivings through complete knowledge and thus proceeds straight on the path of liberation.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
17. Those whose intellect, mind and faith are fixed on Me, Paramātmā, who are absorbed in glorifying and serving Me, being washed of all ignorance by knowledge, never take birth again.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
17. Those whose intellects are convinced of My qualities, whose minds are absorbed in My qualities, who have made paramātmā their goal, who are surrendered to Me, being washed of all ignorance by that knowledge of My qualities, attain liberation.
Purport
The Supreme Transcendental Truth is Lord Kṛṣṇa. The whole Bhagavad-gītā centers around the declaration that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the version of all Vedic literature. Para-tattva means the Supreme Reality, who is understood by the knowers of the Supreme as Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. Bhagavān, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the last word in the Absolute. There is nothing more than that. The Lord says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiṣcid asti dhanaṣ-jaya. Impersonal Brahman is also supported by Kṛṣṇa: brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham. Therefore in all ways Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Reality. One whose mind, intelligence, faith and refuge are always in Kṛṣṇa, or, in other words, one who is fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is undoubtedly washed clean of all misgivings and is in perfect knowledge in everything concerning transcendence. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person can thoroughly understand that there is duality (simultaneous identity and individuality) in Kṛṣṇa, and, equipped with such transcendental knowledge, one can make steady progress on the path of liberation.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
But this vidyā reveals knowledge about the jīvātmā, not knowledge of the Paramātmā.
The Lord says, bhaktyāham ekayā grahyaḥ: I am attainable only by bhakti. Therefore the jṣānīs must additionally practice bhakti in order to obtain knowledge of Paramātmā. [Note: From this it is understood that ātma jṣāna is not enough to give liberation. Bhakti, producing Paramātmā realization, is also necessary for liberation.] That is stated in this verse.
The word tat refers to the Supreme Lord previously mentioned as vibhu in verse 15. Those who place their intelligence in the Supreme Lord, who are dedicated to contemplation on the Lord using intellect (tad-buddhayaḥ), who are meditating on the Lord using the mind (tad-ātmānaḥ), who fix their knowledge in the Lord, giving up sattvic knowledge of the soul apart from the body, and becoming fixed only in the Lord (tan-niṣṭhāḥ) (since the Lord says one should surrender that knowledge to Him: jṣānam ca mayi sannyaset. (SB 11.19.1); who become absorbed in the processes of hearing and chanting about the Lord (tat-parānayaṇāḥ)—these persons do not attain birth again. It will be said later:
bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ
tato māṁ tattvato jṣātvā viśate tad-anantaram
I am to be known in truth only by bhakti. Knowing Me in truth, one attains Me. BG 18.55
Those persons’ ignorance has been previously completely destroyed by vidyā (jṣāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣāḥ).
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
This verse describes the results for those who meditate on the paramātmā’ṣ qualities, such as His sense of justice. Those whose intellects are convinced of such qualities of paramātmā (tad buddhayaḥ), whose minds are absorbed in paramātmā’s qualities (tad ātmānaḥ), who have made paramātmā their goal (tan niṣṭhāḥ), who have completely surrendered to paramātmā (tat parāyaṇāḥ), cleansed of all misconceptions by knowledge of the Lord’s good qualities like justice (jṣāna nirdhūta kalmaṣā), [Note: There seems to be a misprint in all editions. Vaiṣamyādi-guṇa-jṣānena should probably be avaiṣamyādi- guṇa jṣānena] having destroyed their repugnance to the Lord, attain liberation (apunar āvṛttim).
Surrender Unto Me
What happens then, due to his knowledge of the Supersoul and His impartiality? He sees that the Supersoul is the sanctioner, he sees that if he fixes his consciousness on the Supersoul ‑ he will also become impartial. And therefore, because he becomes impartial,