Nirgrantha means, “a person who, having attained the goal of the scriptures, has transcended the binding injunctions (grantha) of scripture.”
Such a person no longer has any purpose to attain by following or flouting scriptural injunctions. Thus, they are called nirgranthā (free from granthas). Alternatively, granthi means “knot,” and thus nirgrantha also refers to one whose heart is free from the knot of ego, or in other words, a liberated being. Knots in the heart refer to the false identification of the self with the body-mind, and claiming the extensions of the body as one’s own.
The word “knot” may also refer to the knots in the sacred thread and in the kaupina (the loincloth). So in this case, nirgranthā could mean an avadhūta like Śukadeva, who did not bother to adorn himself even with a sacred thread or kaupina.
"The sages, though freed from the knot of ego, and though delighting in the Self alone, engage in causeless devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the majestic player. Such are the entrancing qualities of Śrī Hari. (SB 1.7.10)"
Śrīdhara Svāmī comments: “Nirgranthāḥ means ‘beyond the rules and regulations of the scriptures,’ as stated in Gītā 2.52, ‘When your intelligence has passed beyond the impenetrable fortress of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.’ Alternatively, grantha means ‘the knots of attachment’ (granthi), and nirgrantha means ‘whose knots of attachment have been severed.’
Nirgrantha means, “a person who, having attained the goal of the scriptures, has transcended the binding injunctions (grantha) of scripture.”
Such a person no longer has any purpose to attain by following or flouting scriptural injunctions. Thus, they are called nirgranthā (free from granthas). Alternatively, granthi means “knot,” and thus nirgrantha also refers to one whose heart is free from the knot of ego, or in other words, a liberated being. Knots in the heart refer to the false identification of the self with the body-mind, and claiming the extensions of the body as one’s own.
The word “knot” may also refer to the knots in the sacred thread and in the kaupina (the loincloth). So in this case, nirgranthā could mean an avadhūta like Śukadeva, who did not bother to adorn himself even with a sacred thread or kaupina.
"The sages, though freed from the knot of ego, and though delighting in the Self alone, engage in causeless devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the majestic player. Such are the entrancing qualities of Śrī Hari. (SB 1.7.10)"
Śrīdhara Svāmī comments: “Nirgranthāḥ means ‘beyond the rules and regulations of the scriptures,’ as stated in Gītā 2.52, ‘When your intelligence has passed beyond the impenetrable fortress of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.’ Alternatively, grantha means ‘the knots of attachment’ (granthi), and nirgrantha means ‘whose knots of attachment have been severed.’
