Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa has just praised those who follow karma-yoga with śraddhā and without fault-finding. Now he describes the opposite type of person: one who criticizes the teaching and refuses to follow it.

Ye tu etat abhyasūyantaḥ means those who find fault with this teaching. Abhyasūyā is not honest questioning. Honest questioning is part of learning. Abhyasūyā is a fault-finding attitude: “This teaching is outdated. This is superstition. This is impractical. This does not apply now. Why should I follow śāstra? I will live as I like.” Such a person is not trying to understand. He is trying to escape discipline.

Na anutiṣṭhanti me matam means they do not follow this teaching of Mine. The teaching here is karma-yoga: a life of dharma, śāstra-guided action, īśvarārpaṇa-buddhi, prasāda-buddhi, self-discipline, and gradual purification of the mind.

Swami makes an important distinction. If we refuse karma-yoga, life becomes easier in one sense, because we simply follow our instincts. We sleep when we want, eat when we want, speak as we want, react as we want, and justify ourselves afterward. This is prākṛta life — a life according to raw prakṛti. Karma-yoga, by contrast, is saṃskṛta life — a refined life guided by śāstra, vidhi-niṣedha, discipline, and dharma. It is like climbing a mountain; it requires effort against the downward pull of laziness, rāga, dveṣa, and tamas.

Such people are called sarvajñāna-vimūḍhān — deluded with regard to all knowledge. Swami explains this as confusion in two areas. First, they are confused about dharma and adharma. They do not clearly value what should be done and what should be avoided. Second, they are confused about ātma and anātma. They do not know the higher truth of the Self. Thus they are confused both in the preliminary spiritual knowledge and in the final spiritual knowledge.

Finally, Kṛṣṇa says viddhi tān naṣṭān acetasaḥ — know them to be lost, because they lack discrimination. This does not mean Bhagavān hates them. It means their spiritual direction is damaged. When a person rejects karma-yoga, rejects śāstric discipline, and justifies instinctive living, the mind becomes more extroverted, more impure, and less ready for knowledge.

The warning is serious: if we do not follow karma-yoga, we do not remain neutral. We slide downward. The mind becomes more governed by prakṛti and less available for dharma, inquiry, and mokṣa.