Bhagavad Gita · Vibhuti YogaChapter 10, Shloka 3 (10.3)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
यो मामजमनादिं च वेत्ति लोकमहेश्वरम्
असम्मूढः स मर्त्येषु सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते
॥ 10.3 ॥
yo māmajamanādiṃ ca vetti lokamaheśvaram
asammūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣu sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate
Translation
"One who knows me as unborn, beginningless and the great Lord of all the worlds — that undeluded person among mortals is freed from all sins."
Interpretation
Shankaracharya. anāditvam ajatve hetuḥ — being beginningless is the very reason for being unborn; lokānāṃ mahāntam īśvaraṃ turīyam ajñānatatkāryavarjitam — the great Lord of the worlds, the turiya (the fourth), free of ignorance and its effects; sarvaiḥ pāpaiḥ matipūrvāmatipūrvakṛtaiḥ pramucyate — freed from all sins, committed knowingly or unknowingly.
Acharya Ramanuja. A subtle distinction: ajaḥ — the Lord is distinct both from inert prakriti (nature) and from souls bound by karma; anādim — distinct even from the liberated soul, because the liberated soul's "unbornness" is ādimat (has a beginning). What is delusion? itarasajātīyatayā ekīkṛtya mohaḥ — taking the Lord to be like others. An example: a king too is only a human being, who gained his kingdom through karma; Brahma too is within samsara — but the Lord is not like this.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.