Bhagavad Gita · 2.69 · Transcendental Knowledge·69 of 72
या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी।यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः ॥
yā niśhā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti sanyamī
yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśhā paśhyato muneḥ
Sanskrit recitation
A steady mind in a noisy world · 2.54–2.72 · Teaching
Translation
That which is night to all beings, in that the self-controlled man is awake; when all beings are awake, that is night for the sage who sees.
Meaning
That which is real for the wordlyminded people is illusion for the sage, and vice versa. The sage lives in the Self. This is day for him. He is unconscious of the wordly phenomena. They are night for him, as it were. The ordinary man is unconscious of his real nature. Life in the spirit is night for him. He is experiencing the objects of sensual enjoyment. This is day for him. The Self is a nonentity for him For a sage this world is a nonentity.The wordlyminded people are in utter darkness as they have no knowledge of the Self. What is darkness for them is all light for the sage. The Self, Atman or Brahman is night for the worldlyminded persons. But the sage is fully awake. He is directly cognising the supreme Reality, the Light of lights. He is full of illumination and AtmaJnana or knowledge of the Self.
After Swami Sivananda
A steady mind in a noisy world· 2.54–2.72→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 2.54Arjuna said, "O Krishna, what is the description of one who has steady wisdom and is merged in the superconscious state? How does one of steady wisdom speak, how do they sit, and how do they walk?"
- 2.55The Blessed Lord said, "When a man completely casts off, O Arjuna, all the desires of the mind and is satisfied in the Self by the Self, then he is said to be one of steady wisdom."
- 2.56He whose mind is not shaken by adversity, who does not long for pleasures, and is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady wisdom.
- 2.57He who is everywhere without attachment, upon encountering anything good or bad, neither rejoices nor hastens; his wisdom is firm.
- 2.58When, like the tortoise which withdraws all its limbs on all sides, he withdraws his senses from the sense-objects, then his wisdom becomes steady.
- 2.59The objects of the senses turn away from the abstinent man, leaving the longing behind; but his longing also turns away upon seeing the Supreme.
- 2.60The turbulent senses, O Arjuna, can violently carry away the mind of a wise person, even though they are striving to control them.
- 2.61Having restrained them all, he should sit steadfast, intent on Me; his wisdom is steady whose senses are under control.
- 2.62When one thinks of objects, attachment to them arises; from attachment, desire is born; from desire, anger arises.
- 2.63Anger leads to delusion, which causes loss of memory; this, in turn, leads to the destruction of discrimination, resulting in destruction.
- 2.64But the self-controlled man, moving among objects with the senses restrained and free from attraction and repulsion, attains peace.
- 2.65In that peace, all pains are destroyed; for the intellect of the tranquil-minded soon becomes steady.
- 2.66There is no knowledge of the Self for the unsteady, and no meditation is possible for the unsteady, and no peace for the unmeditative, and how can there be happiness for one who has no peace?
- 2.67For the mind, which follows in the wake of the wandering senses, carries away his discrimination, as the wind carries away a boat on the waters.
- 2.68Therefore, O mighty-armed Arjuna, his knowledge is steady whose senses are completely restrained from sense objects.
2.69That which is night to all beings, in that the self-controlled man is awake; when all beings are awake, that is night for the sage who sees.
- 2.70He attains peace into whom all desires enter, just as waters enter the ocean which, filled from all sides, remains unmoved; but not the man who is full of desires.
- 2.71That person attains peace who, abandoning all desires, moves about without longing, without the sense of ownership, and without egoism.
- 2.72O son of Pritha, this is the eternal state, the Brahmic seat. Attaining this, one is not deluded. Being established in it, one attains oneness with Brahman even at the end of life.
Word-by-word→
- sā
- that
- yā
- which
- muneḥ
- sage
- niśhā
- night
- tasyām
- in that
- yasyām
- in which
- jāgarti
- is awake
- jāgrati
- are awake
- sanyamī
- self-controlled
- bhūtāni
- creatures
- paśhyataḥ
- see
- sarva-bhūtānām
- of all living beings
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