In plain words
Freed from these three gates of darkness, son of Kunti, a person practices what is good for oneself and thereby reaches the supreme goal.
Word for word
Freed from these three gates of darkness, O Kaunteya, a man practises his own good; thence he goes to the supreme goal.
एतैर्विमुक्तः कौन्तेय तमोद्वारैस्त्रिभिर्नरःआचरत्यात्मनः श्रेयस्ततो याति परां गतिम्
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
त्यागस्तुतिरियम् —
एतैः विमुक्तः कौन्तेय तमोद्वारैः तमसः नरकस्य दुःखमोहात्मकस्य द्वाराणि कामादयः तैः, एतैः त्रिभिः विमुक्तः नरः आचरति अनुतिष्ठति । किम् ? आत्मनः श्रेयः । यत्प्रतिबद्धः पूर्वं न आचचार, तदपगमात् आचरति । ततः तदाचरणात् याति परां गतिं मोक्षमपि इति ॥ २२ ॥
In plain words
This is praise of renunciation —
"Freed from these, son of Kuntī, from these gates of darkness." Darkness means hell, and hell is made of nothing but pain and confusion; its gates are desire and the rest. A man free of those, free of these three, gets to work — takes it up and does it. Does what? His own real good. What he never once did before, because these held him back, he does now, since they are gone. And out of that doing he reaches the highest destination: freedom itself.
Close to the Sanskrit
This is a praise of renunciation —
"Freed from these, O son of Kuntī, from the gates of darkness" — of darkness, that is, of hell, which consists of pain and delusion, the gates are desire and the rest; from those, from these three, the man who is freed practises, undertakes. What? His own higher good. That which, being obstructed, he formerly did not practise, that, on the removal of those obstructions, he practises. Thereafter, from that practising, he goes to the supreme destination, to liberation as well. So it is.