Bhagavad Gita · 18.54 · Yoga through the Perfection of Renunciation and Surrender·54 of 78
ब्रह्मभूतः प्रसन्नात्मा न शोचति न काङ्क्षति।समः सर्वेषु भूतेषु मद्भक्तिं लभते पराम् ॥
brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śhochati na kāṅkṣhati
samaḥ sarveṣhu bhūteṣhu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām
Sanskrit recitation
Toward inner perfection · 18.49–18.55 · Teaching
Translation
Becoming Brahman, serene in the Self, he neither grieves nor desires; he is the same to all beings, and obtains supreme devotion to Me.
Meaning
Brahmabhutah Having attained to Brahman. His attainment of perfect freedom or oneness with the Supreme is described in the next verse.He is tranilminded. He is in a state of balance and equanimity. There is nothing connected with the little personality that may cause him to grieve or prompt him to feel desire. When this state is attained, the multiplicity of objects gradually disappears and he perceives only unity everywhere. The waking and dream consciousness that gives rise to false knowledge gradually passes away.He does not grieve about his bodily wants. If he fails in his attempt to fulfil them, he does not grieve either. He always keeps evenness of mind in success and failure. He has no longing for any object that is not attained.Na sochati na kankshati can also be interpreted as he neither grieves nor exults.Samah sarveshu bhuteshu may also mean he puts himself in the position of others and feels for others. If anyone is in acute agony or distress, he himself feels that he is affected. His heart is very tender and soft. He is extremely compassionate and merciful. He considers that the pleasure and pain of all beings are his own. If others rejoice he also rejoices if others are in distress, he also is distressed. His heart is so much expanded that he feels for all
After Swami Sivananda
Toward inner perfection· 18.49–18.55→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 18.49He whose intellect is unattached everywhere, who has subdued his self, from whom desire has fled, he attains the supreme state of freedom from action through renunciation.
- 18.50Learn from Me, O Arjuna, in brief how one who has attained perfection reaches Brahman—the Eternal, that supreme state of knowledge.
- 18.51Endowed with a pure intellect, controlling the self through firmness, relinquishing sound and other objects and abandoning attraction and hatred.
- 18.52Dwelling in solitude, eating sparingly, with speech, body, and mind subdued, always engaged in meditation and concentration, and resorting to dispassion.
- 18.53Having abandoned egoism, strength, arrogance, desire, anger, and covetousness, and being free from the notion of 'mine' and peaceful, he is fit for becoming Brahman.
18.54Becoming Brahman, serene in the Self, he neither grieves nor desires; he is the same to all beings, and obtains supreme devotion to Me.
- 18.55By devotion, he knows Me in truth, who and what I am; then, having known Me in truth, he immediately enters into the Supreme.
Word-by-word→
- na
- nor
- parām
- supreme
- labhate
- attains
- samaḥ
- equitably disposed
- śhochati
- grieving
- sarveṣhu
- toward all
- bhūteṣhu
- living beings
- mat-bhaktim
- devotion to me
- kāṅkṣhati
- desiring
- prasanna-ātmā
- mentally serene
- brahma-bhūtaḥ
- one situated in Brahman
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