In plain words
Others, not knowing in this way, meditate after hearing from those who know. They too cross beyond death, devoted to what they have heard.
Word for word
But others, not knowing thus, having heard from others, meditate; they too surely cross beyond death, devoted to what they have heard.
अन्ये त्वेवमजानन्तः श्रुत्वाऽन्येभ्य उपासतेतेऽपि चातितरन्त्येव मृत्युं श्रुतिपरायणाः
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam· bhāṣya
अन्ये तु एषु विकल्पेषु अन्यतमेनापि एवं यथोक्तम् आत्मानम् अजानन्तः अन्येभ्यः आचार्येभ्यः श्रुत्वा ‘इदमेव चिन्तयत’ इति उक्ताः उपासते श्रद्दधानाः सन्तः चिन्तयन्ति । तेऽपि च अतितरन्त्येव अतिक्रामन्त्येव मृत्युम् , मृत्युयुक्तं संसारम् इत्येतत् । श्रुतिपरायणाः श्रुतिः श्रवणं परम् अयनं गमनं मोक्षमार्गप्रवृत्तौ परं साधनं येषां ते श्रुतिपरायणाः ; केवलपरोपदेशप्रमाणाः स्वयं विवेकरहिताः इत्यभिप्रायः । किमु वक्तव्यम् प्रमाणं प्रति स्वतन्त्राः विवेकिनः मृत्युम् अतितरन्ति इति अभिप्रायः ॥ २५ ॥
In plain words
But there's another kind of person too — someone who hasn't actually realized the Self through any of the paths just described, who has simply heard a teacher say, 'just keep your attention on this one thing,' and, out of sheer faith, does exactly that, worshiping and holding it in mind. And here's the striking thing: even this person genuinely crosses over death — meaning, crosses beyond the whole cycle of birth and death that death here really stands for. Such people are called 'those whose refuge is what they've heard' — their only real resource on the path to liberation is someone else's word, taken entirely on trust; they haven't yet found their own discernment. So if even someone relying purely on borrowed instruction gets across, what need is there even to mention the ones who don't have to borrow at all — the independently discerning, who cross death by their own clear seeing?
Close to the Sanskrit
But others, not knowing the Self as already described by even any one of these alternatives, having heard from other teachers 'contemplate this alone', so instructed, worship — being full of faith, they contemplate. They too indeed cross over, indeed transcend, death — that is, saṃsāra, which is bound up with death; this is the sense. They are called 'those for whom scripture is the highest resort' — those for whom hearing is the highest refuge, the highest recourse, the highest means in the pursuit of the path to liberation, they are śrutiparāyaṇāḥ; that is, those whose sole means of knowledge is another's teaching, themselves devoid of discrimination — this is the intent. What more need be said: those who are independent with respect to the means of knowledge, the discerning ones, cross over death — this is the intent.