ये मे मतमिदं नित्यमनुतिष्ठन्ति मानवाः।
श्रद्धावन्तोऽनसूयन्तो मुच्यन्ते तेऽपि कर्मभिः।।3.31।।
3.31 Those men who ever follow this teaching of Mine with faith and without cavil, they also become freed from actions.
3.31 Those men who constantly practise this teaching of Mine with faith and without cavilling, they too are freed from actions.
3.31. Those who constantly follow this doctrine of Mine-such men, with faith and without finding fault [in it], are freed from [the results of] all actions.
3.31 ये those who? मे My? मतम् teaching? इदम् this? नित्यम् constantly? अनुतिष्ठन्ति practise? मानवाः men? श्रद्धावन्तः full of faith? अनसूयन्तः not cavilling? मुच्यन्ते are freed? ते they? अपि also? कर्मभिः from actions.Commentary Sraddha is a mental attitude. It means faith. It is faith in ones own Self? in the scriptures and in the teachings of the spiritual preceptor. It is compund of the higher emotion of faith? reverence and humility.
3.31 Ye, those; manavah, men; who (nityam, ever;) anutisthanti, follow accordingly; me matam, My teaching- this teaching of Mine, viz that duty must be performed, which has been stated with valid reasoning; sraddhavantah, with faith; and anasuyantah, without cavil, without detracing Me, Vasudeva, the Teacher [Here Ast. adds parama, supreme-Tr.]; te api, they also, who are such; mucyante, become freed; karmabhih, from actions called the righteous and the unrighteous.
3.31 See Comment under 3.32
3.31 There are those persons who are alified to understand the Sastras and decide for themselves what is My doctrine, and follow them accordingly; there are others who are full of faith in the meaning of the Sastras without however practising it. And there are still others who, even though devoid of faith, do not cavil at it, saying that the true meaning of the Sastras cannot be this, i.e., they do not find any blemish pertaining to the Sastras which possess great alities. All these persons are freed from Karmas which are there from beginningless time and which cause bondage. By the term, api (even) in te pi karmabhih (even they from Karmas), these men are divided into three groups. The meaning is that those who, even if they do not act upon the meaning but still believe in this meaning of the Sastras and do not cavil at it, will be cleansed of their evil by their faith and freedom from fault-finding. For, if they have faith they will, before long, take to the practice of this very meaning of the Sastras and be freed. Sri Krsna now speaks of the evil that will befall those who do not practice this instruction of the Upanisads, i.e., those who are faithless and who cavil at it.
In this verse the Lord speaks to encourage people to take up his teaching.
The advantage of performing prescribed Vedic activities is being stated by Lord Krishna. Those situated in karma yoga or performing prescribed Vedic actions that have faith in the pristine teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita and perform these instructions in their daily lives, without blaspheming the teachings by thinking that they are incorrect and unnecessary will also gradually be freed from all reactions which cause bondage in the material worlds the same as the person situated in jnana yoga or the cultivation of spiritual knowledge.
There is no commentary for this verse.
The word manavah means men. It is derived from Manu the father of mankind, who wrote the Manu Samhita which are the guidelines for the human race. Thus all mankind as the descendants of Manu are followers of Vedic scriptures. The great personalities like Manu contemplating and reflecting on the Vedas determine what is the main import of the Vedas, which is precisely the formulised will of the Lord act accordingly to this inner directive. There are persons who although unable to practice the prescribed injunctions enjoined in the Vedic scriptures still have faith and believe in the tenets inculcated therein. There are others who although not fully understanding and believing still do not doubt the veracity and authority of the Vedic scriptures. All these three classes of mankind shall be redeemed and delivered from the vast aggregate of past sins accumulated since time immemorial that keeps one locked in bondage to the material existence. Lord Krishna uses the words te api meaning they also to emphasise that these even those not fully believing if they remain passive and do not blaspheme they are also entitled to absolution from past sins which is the cause of bondage and gradually attain moksa or deliverance from the cycle of birth and death. The next verse tells the fate of the blasphemers and non-observers of this edict.
The word manavah means men. It is derived from Manu the father of mankind, who wrote the Manu Samhita which are the guidelines for the human race. Thus all mankind as the descendants of Manu are followers of Vedic scriptures. The great personalities like Manu contemplating and reflecting on the Vedas determine what is the main import of the Vedas, which is precisely the formulised will of the Lord act accordingly to this inner directive. There are persons who although unable to practice the prescribed injunctions enjoined in the Vedic scriptures still have faith and believe in the tenets inculcated therein. There are others who although not fully understanding and believing still do not doubt the veracity and authority of the Vedic scriptures. All these three classes of mankind shall be redeemed and delivered from the vast aggregate of past sins accumulated since time immemorial that keeps one locked in bondage to the material existence. Lord Krishna uses the words te api meaning they also to emphasise that these even those not fully believing if they remain passive and do not blaspheme they are also entitled to absolution from past sins which is the cause of bondage and gradually attain moksa or deliverance from the cycle of birth and death. The next verse tells the fate of the blasphemers and non-observers of this edict.
Ye me matam idam nityam anutishthanti maanavaah; Shraddhaavanto’nasooyanto muchyante te’pi karmabhih.
ye—who; me—my; matam—teachings; idam—these; nityam—constantly; anutiṣhṭhanti—abide by; mānavāḥ—human beings; śhraddhā-vantaḥ—with profound faith; anasūyantaḥ—free from cavilling; muchyante—become free; te—those; api—also; karmabhiḥ—from the bondage of karma
