🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 2.66

Chapter 2 · सांख्ययोग · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · "The Yoga of Knowledge" · Verse 66 of 72

नास्ति बुद्धिरयुक्तस्य न चायुक्तस्य भावना।

न चाभावयतः शान्तिरशान्तस्य कुतः सुखम्।।2.66।।
— Bhagavad-Gītā 2.66 · Devanāgarī root text

🪷 English Translations

5 received English translations are available for this śloka. Each voice is labelled; no single rendering is presented as the Sanskrit itself.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 edition attribution in the received data
2.66 Right discrimination is not for him who cannot concentrate. Without concentration, there cannot be meditation; he who cannot meditate must not expect peace; and without peace, how can anyone expect happiness?
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
2.66 There is no knowledge of the Self to the unsteady and to the unsteady no meditation is possible, and to the unmeditative there can be no peace, and to the man who has no peace, how can there be happiness?
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
2.66 Ayuktasya, for the unsteady, for one who does not have a concentrated mind; na asti, there is no, i.e. there does not arise; buddhih, wisdom, with regard to the nature of the Self; ca, and; there is no bhavana, meditation, earnest longing [Longing to have a continuous remembrance of the knowledge of Brahman which arises in the mind from hearing the great Upanisadic sayings (maha-vakyas).] for the knowledge of the Self; ayuktasya, for an unsteady man. And similarly, abhavayatah, for an unmeditative man, who does not ardently desire the knowledge of the Self; there is no santih, peace, restraint of the senses. Kutah, how can there be; sukham, happiness; asantasya, for one without peace? That indeed is happiness which consists in the freedom of the senses from the thirst for enjoyment of objects; not the thirst for objects that is misery to be sure. The implication is that, so long as thirst persists, there is no possibility of even an iota of happiness! It is being stated why a man without concentration does not possess wisdom:
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
2.66 In him who does not focus his mind on Me but is engaged only in the control of senses by his own exertion, the Buddhi or the right disposition that is concerned with the pure self never arises. Therefore he fails in the practice of meditation on the self. In one who cannot think of the pure self, there arises the desire for sense objects; in him serenity does not arise. How can eternal and unsurpassed bliss be generated in him who is not serene but is attached to sense-objects? [The idea is that without the aid of devotion to God, the effort to control the senses by one's will power alone will end in failure.] Sri Krsna speaks again of the calamity that befalls one who does not practise the control of the senses in the way prescribed above:
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
2.66. The capacity to decide is not for one who is not a master of Yoga; and concentration of mind is not for one who is not a master of Yoga; and peace is not for one who does not concentrate; wherefrom could happiness come to one who has no peace ?

🪷 Hindi Translation · हिन्दी अनुवाद

Received Hindi rendering attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi rendering · source-data attribution
।।2.66।। जिसके मन-इन्द्रियाँ संयमित नहीं हैं, ऐसे मनुष्यकी व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धि नहीं होती और व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धि न होनेसे उसमें कर्तव्यपरायणताकी भावना नहीं होती। ऐसी भावना न होनेसे उसको शान्ति नहीं मिलती। फिर शान्तिरहित मनुष्यको सुख कैसे मिल सकता है?

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

5 received English commentary layers are available for this śloka. Open only the voice you wish to study.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
2.66 न not? अस्ति is? बुद्धिः knowledge (of the Self)? अयुक्तस्य of the unsteady? न not? च and? अयुक्तस्य of the unsteady? भावना meditation? न not? च and? अभावयतः of the unmeditated? शान्तिः peace? अशान्तस्य of the peaceless? कुतः whence? सुखम् happiness.Commentary The man who cannot fix his mind in meditation cannot have knowledge of the Self. The unsteady man cannot practise meditation. He cannot have even intense devotion to Selfknowledge nor can he have burning longing for liberation or Moksha. He who does not practise meditation cannot possess peace of mind. How can the man who has no peace of mind enjoy happinessDesire or Trishna (thirsting for senseobjects) is the enemy of peace. There cannot be an iota or tinge of happiness for a man who is thirsting for sensual objects. The mind will be ever restless? and will be hankering for the objects. Only when this thirsting dies? does man enjoy peace. Only then can he meditate and rest in the Self.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
2.66 Ayuktasya, for the unsteady, for one who does not have a concentrated mind; na asti, there is no, i.e. there does not arise; buddhih, wisdom, with regard to the nature of the Self; ca, and; there is no bhavana, meditation, earnest longing [Longing to have a continuous remembrance of the knowledge of Brahman which arises in the mind from hearing the great Upanisadic sayings (maha-vakyas).] for the knowledge of the Self; ayuktasya, for an unsteady man. And similarly, abhavayatah, for an unmeditative man, who does not ardently desire the knowledge of the Self; there is no santih, peace, restraint of the senses. Kutah, how can there be; sukham, happiness; asantasya, for one without peace? That indeed is happiness which consists in the freedom of the senses from the thirst for enjoyment of objects; not the thirst for objects that is misery to be sure. The implication is that, so long as thirst persists, there is no possibility of even an iota of happiness! It is being stated why a man without concentration does not possess wisdom:
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
2.66 In him who does not focus his mind on Me but is engaged only in the control of senses by his own exertion, the Buddhi or the right disposition that is concerned with the pure self never arises. Therefore he fails in the practice of meditation on the self. In one who cannot think of the pure self, there arises the desire for sense objects; in him serenity does not arise. How can eternal and unsurpassed bliss be generated in him who is not serene but is attached to sense-objects? [The idea is that without the aid of devotion to God, the effort to control the senses by one's will power alone will end in failure.] Sri Krsna speaks again of the calamity that befalls one who does not practise the control of the senses in the way prescribed above:
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
2.66 See Comment under 2.68
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।2.66।। शास्त्रों में मन की शान्ति पर बल देने का कारण यहाँ स्पष्ट किया गया है। मन शान्ति के अभाव के कारण बुद्धि में सांस्कृतिक एवं आध्यात्मिक विकास के लिये आवश्यक विचार करने की क्षमता नहीं होती। शान्ति के न होने पर जीवन की समस्याओं को समझने की बौद्धिक तत्परता का अभाव होता है और तब जीवन का सही मूल्यांकन कर आत्मज्ञान एवं ध्यान के लिए अवसर ही नहीं रहता। ध्रुव तारे के समान जीवन में महान लक्ष्य के न होने पर हमारा जीवन समुद्र में खोये जलपोत के समान भटकता हुआ अन्त में किसी विशाल चट्टान से टकराकर नष्ट हो जाता है।लक्ष्यहीन दिशाहीन पुरुष को कभी शान्ति नहीं मिलती और ऐसे अशान्त पुरुष को सुख कहाँ जीवन सिन्धु की शान्त अथवा विक्षुब्ध तरंगों में सुख या दुख के समय संयम से रहने के लिये परमार्थ का लक्ष्य हमारी दृष्टि से कभी ओझल नहीं होना चाहिये। एक मृदंग वादक के बिना नर्तकी के पैर लय और गति को नियन्त्रित नहीं रख सकते।अयुक्त (संयमरहित) पुरुष को ज्ञान क्यों नहीं होता सुनो

🪷 Hindi Vyākhyā · हिन्दी व्याख्या

Received Hindi vyākhyā attributed in the source data to Swami Rāmsukhdās ji.

🪷 Swami Rāmsukhdās · Hindi vyākhyā · source-data attribution
2.66।। व्याख्या-- [यहाँ कर्मयोगका विषय है। कर्मयोगमें मन और इन्द्रयोंका संयम करना मुख्य होता है। विवेकपूर्वक संयम किये बिना कामना नष्ट नहीं होती। कामनाके नष्ट हुए बिना बुद्धिकी स्थिरता नहीं होती। अतः कर्मयोगी साधकको पहले मन और इन्द्रियोंका संयम करना चाहिये। परन्तु जिसका मन और इन्द्रियाँ संयमित नहीं है, उसकी बात इस श्लोकमें कहते हैं।]

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APA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. (n.d.). Bhagavad-Gītā 2.66. Vidhyāmitra. Retrieved 2026-08-17, from https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/2/66
Chicago: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 2.66." Vidhyāmitra. Accessed 2026-08-17. https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/2/66.
MLA: Vyāsa Maharṣi. "Bhagavad-Gītā 2.66." Vidhyāmitra, 2026, https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/2/66.
Canonical reading URL: https://vidhyamitra.com/bhagavad-gita/2/66. This citation identifies Vidhyamitra's received digital witness; consult a named scholarly or printed edition when edition-specific authority is required.

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This page is rendered from the pinned 701-address witness documented on the Gītā index. Publication and search-indexing authorization for every bundled translation and commentary layer was confirmed on 4 August 2026; the exact received recension boundary remains disclosed separately.

🪷 ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय 🪷

सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)