In plain words
Having attained Me, the Mahātmas do not take birth again in this impermanent abode of suffering; they have reached the highest perfection.
Word for word
Having reached Me, the great-souled do not obtain birth again, an abode of sorrows, impermanent; [they have] gone to the highest perfection.
मामुपेत्य पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम्नाऽऽप्नुवन्ति महात्मानः संसिद्धिं परमां गताः
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
तव सौलभ्येन किं स्यात् इत्युच्यते ; शृणु तत् मम सौलभ्येन यत् भवति —
माम् उपेत्य माम् ईश्वरम् उपेत्य मद्भावमापद्य पुनर्जन्म पुनरुत्पत्तिं नाप्नुवन्ति न प्राप्नुवन्ति । किंविशिष्टं पुनर्जन्म न प्राप्नुवन्ति इति, तद्विशेषणमाह — दुःखालयं दुःखानाम् आध्यात्मिकादीनां आलयम् आश्रयम् आलीयन्ते यस्मिन् दुःखानि इति दुःखालयं जन्म । न केवलं दुःखालयम् , अशाश्वतम् अनवस्थितस्वरूपं च । नाप्नुवन्ति ईदृशं पुनर्जन्म महात्मानः यतयः संसिद्धिं मोक्षाख्यां परमां प्रकृष्टां गताः प्राप्ताः । ये पुनः मां न प्राप्नुवन्ति ते पुनः आवर्तन्ते ॥ १५ ॥
In plain words
"And what comes of your being so easy to reach?" — that is the question. Listen, then, to what does come of my being easy to reach —
'Having attained Me' means having reached Me, the Lord — having actually entered into My own state of being, not merely approaching from outside. 'Rebirth' means being born all over again, and great souls simply do not undergo that. What kind of rebirth, exactly, do they escape? He tells us: it is 'the abode of suffering' — the very place where every kind of pain, starting with what arises from within oneself, comes and settles; that is what birth is. And it is not only a home for suffering — it is also impermanent, never staying the same. Great souls, true strivers, who have reached that highest, surpassing perfection called liberation, simply do not take on a birth like that again. But those who do not attain Me — they keep coming back.
Close to the Sanskrit
"By your ease of access, what would be?" — thus it is said; hear that which comes about by my ease of access —
'Having attained Me': having attained Me, the Lord, that is, having attained My own state of being; 'rebirth': re-origination — 'they do not obtain,' they do not attain. What kind of rebirth do they not obtain? — to specify this, he says: 'the abode of suffering': the abode, the resting-place, of sufferings — beginning with those pertaining to oneself — in which sufferings gather, is 'the abode of suffering'; that is birth. Not merely the abode of suffering, but also not eternal, of unsettled nature. Such rebirth great souls, ascetics, do not obtain — those who have gone to, attained, the highest, surpassing perfection called liberation. But those who do not attain Me, they return again.
▸Gītā Vāhini
“అట్టి మహాత్మునకు అంతఃకరణములందు రజో తమోగుణముల యొక్క మాలిన్యము ఉండదు. అట్టి శుద్ధమైన అంతఃకరణము కలవారినే ‘మహాత్ము’లని అందురు. కానీ నేటి రోజులలో మహాత్ములన్న పేరు మాత్రమే కానీ, అంతఃకరణములందు అన్నివిధములైన మాలిన్యములూ కరుడుగట్టి కదలలేని స్థితిలో ఉండును. నిజమైన అంతఃకరణ శుద్ధిగల వారికి తిరిగి జనన మరణములుండవు. వారు తిరిగీ లోకమునకు రానక్కరలేదు. అదిలేక, యెన్ని పుణ్యకార్యములు చేసిననూ, ఎట్టి స్థితిని సాధించిననూ, ఏ లోకమునకు వెళ్ళిననూ, తిరిగీ రాక తప్పదు. నిరంతరం బ్రహ్మభావములో నుండునట్టి మహాత్ములు మాత్రమే కాలాతీతమైన నన్ను చేరి పునర్జన్మమనునది లేక తదాత్మాకారమునే పొందుదురు” అని అన్నాడు.
In plain words
“In such a mahātma's antaḥkaraṇa there is no impurity of the guṇas rajas and tamas. Only those whose antaḥkaraṇa is so pure are called ‘mahātmas’. But in these days ‘mahātma’ is only a name, while in the antaḥkaraṇa impurities of every kind have hardened until they cannot be moved. For those who have true purity of the antaḥkaraṇa there are no more births and deaths. They need not come to the world again. Without it, however many meritorious deeds one may do, whatever state one may achieve, whatever world one may go to, the return cannot be escaped. Only the mahātmas who remain ever in the sense of being Brahman reach Me, who am beyond time, and, with no such thing as rebirth, attain the very form of oneness with Me,” He said.