Fearlessness is the state of being unafraid. Purity of being is the cleansing of the inner instrument: in one's dealings, the casting-off of the deceiving of others, of māyā, falsehood and the like, that is, dealing in a state of pure being. Standing firm in the yoga of knowledge: knowledge is the understanding, from scripture and from a teacher, of the Self and the other things; yoga is the making of what has been understood into something known to one's own self, by one-pointedness through the drawing-in of the senses; standing firm in those two is steadfastness in them. This is the chief sāttvika endowment, the divine endowment; whatever nature is found in those eligible for it is called sāttvika. Giving is the sharing-out, according to one's power, of food and the rest. Self-restraint is the calming of the outer instruments; the calming of the inner instrument He will state as peace. Sacrifice is the śruti sacrifice, the fire-oblation and the rest, and the smṛti sacrifice, the offering to the gods and the like. Recitation is the study of the Ṛgveda and the rest, for an unseen purpose. Austerity is the bodily austerity and the rest, about to be told. Uprightness is straightness, at all times. Further.

The Blessed Lord spoke. Fear is the pain born of seeing the cause of the pain that has the form of parting from the wished and union with the unwished; the ceasing of that is fearlessness. Purity of being is the inner organ's not being touched by rajas and tamas. Standing in the discipline of knowledge is the being settled in the discernment of the own form of the self as set apart from nature. Giving is the bestowing, on a worthy recipient, of wealth lawfully gained. Restraint is the practising of the turning back of the mind from its bent toward objects. Sacrifice is the carrying out of the great sacrifices and the rest, in the form of the worship of the Blessed One with no eye to fruit. Study of scripture is, dwelling on it that the whole Veda sets forth the Blessed One with His glory and the manner of His worship, the being settled in the practice of the Veda. Austerity is the bringing-about, by the harsh penance, the lunar fast, the twelfth-day fast, and the rest, of the body's fitness for the action that pleases the Blessed One. Uprightness is the single fixity, toward others, of the workings of mind, speech, and body.

This is a brief sub-gloss. For a fuller reading of this verse, see Madhusūdana, Śaṅkara, or Rāmānuja above.

Salutation to the remover of the obstacles to the means. In this chapter Krishna shows what is opposed to the means to the human end. 'Austerity' (tapas) is celibacy and the rest, as the lexicon has it, 'celibacy and the rest is austerity'.