🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 5.20

Chapter 5 · कर्मसंन्यासयोग · Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · "The Yoga of Action-Renunciation" · Verse 20 of 29

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न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम्।

स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः।।5.20।।
Bhagavad-Gītā 5.20 · the yathārtha śloka (Devanāgarī Sanskrit · canonical)

🪷 English Translations

Five authentic English voices · each from a distinct sampradāya · together revealing the verse's full śabda-tattva.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 · public domain · Cosmo Press tradition
5.20 He who knows and lives in the Absolute remains unmoved and unperturbed; he is not elated by pleasure or depressed by pain.
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
5.20 Resting in Brahman, with steady intellect and undeluded, the knower of Brahman neither rejoiceth on obtaining what is pleasant nor grieveth on obtaining what is unpleasant.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
5.20 Brahmavit, a knower of Brahman, as described; sthitah, who is established; brahmani in Brahman- who is not a performer of actions, i.e. one who has renounced all actions; sthira-buddhih, should have his intellect steady-the man of steady intellect is one who has the unwavering, firm conviction of the existence of the one and the same taintless Self in all beings; and further, asammudhah, he should not be deluded, he should be free from delusion. Na prahrsyet, he should not get delighted; prapya, by getting; priyam, what is desirable; na ca udvijet, and surely, neither should he become dejected; prapya, by getting; apriyam, what is undesirable-because the acisition of the desirable and the undesirable are causes of [Ast.'s reading is 'horsa-visadau kurvate, cause happiness and sorrow' in place of 'harsa-visada-sthane, sources of happiness and sorrow', which (latter) reading occurs in G1. Pr. and A.A.-Tr.] happiness and sorrow for one who considers the body as the Self; not for the one who has realized the absolute Self, since in his case there can be no acisition of desirable and undesirable objects. Further, the one who is established in Brahman-
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
5.20 Whatever is experienced as pleasant by one staying in a body and remaining in a particular condition because of the subtle impressions of his old Karmas, and whatever is experienced as unpleasant - on attaining those two types of experiences, one should not feel joy or grief. How? By having the mind on that 'Which is steadfast' i.e., the self, 'Undeluded,' i.e., one must be free from the delusion of identity of the steadfast self with the transient body. And how can this be? He who knows Brahman and abides in Brahman, i.e., by becoming a knower of Brahman by instruction by the teachers - such a person abides steadily, engaged in the practices towards winning Brahman. What is said is this: From the instructions received from the sages who know the truth, one should learn what has to be learnt about the self. Endeavouring to actualise the same, one does not consider the body as the sefl and remains fixed in the joyous experience of the vision of the steadfast self. Let him not rejoice and grieve when he experiences pleasant and unpleasant things, as such experiences result from the Prakrti and are transient.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
5.20. He who, with his self (mind) not attached to the external contacts, finds happiness in the Self-that person, with his self engaged in the Yoga, pervades easily, suffering no loss, the Brahman.

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

The classical commentary tradition rendered in English · each ācārya speaks from their own sampradāya · the seer chooses the depth of darśana.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
5.20 न not? प्रहृष्येत् should rejoice? प्रियम् the pleasant? प्राप्य having obtained? न not? उद्विजेत् should be troubled? प्राप्य having obtained? च and? अप्रियम् the unpleasant? स्थिरबुद्धिः one with steady intellect? असम्मूढः undeluded? ब्रह्मवित् knower of Brahman? ब्रह्मणि in Brahman? स्थितः established.Commentary This is the state of a Jivanmukta or a liberated sage or a Brahmana who identifies himself with the Self or Atman. He always has a balanced mind. He is never deluded. He has abandoned all actions as he rests in Brahman. He who has an unbalanced mind? who identifies himself with the body and mind feels pleasure and pain? exhilaration of spirits when he gets a pleasant object and grief when he obtains an unpleasant object. (Cf.VI.21?27?28XIII.12XIV.20)
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
5.20 Brahmavit, a knower of Brahman, as described; sthitah, who is established; brahmani in Brahman- who is not a performer of actions, i.e. one who has renounced all actions; sthira-buddhih, should have his intellect steady-the man of steady intellect is one who has the unwavering, firm conviction of the existence of the one and the same taintless Self in all beings; and further, asammudhah, he should not be deluded, he should be free from delusion. Na prahrsyet, he should not get delighted; prapya, by getting; priyam, what is desirable; na ca udvijet, and surely, neither should he become dejected; prapya, by getting; apriyam, what is undesirable-because the acisition of the desirable and the undesirable are causes of [Ast.'s reading is 'horsa-visadau kurvate, cause happiness and sorrow' in place of 'harsa-visada-sthane, sources of happiness and sorrow', which (latter) reading occurs in G1. Pr. and A.A.-Tr.] happiness and sorrow for one who considers the body as the Self; not for the one who has realized the absolute Self, since in his case there can be no acisition of desirable and undesirable objects. Further, the one who is established in Brahman-
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
5.20 Whatever is experienced as pleasant by one staying in a body and remaining in a particular condition because of the subtle impressions of his old Karmas, and whatever is experienced as unpleasant - on attaining those two types of experiences, one should not feel joy or grief. How? By having the mind on that 'Which is steadfast' i.e., the self, 'Undeluded,' i.e., one must be free from the delusion of identity of the steadfast self with the transient body. And how can this be? He who knows Brahman and abides in Brahman, i.e., by becoming a knower of Brahman by instruction by the teachers - such a person abides steadily, engaged in the practices towards winning Brahman. What is said is this: From the instructions received from the sages who know the truth, one should learn what has to be learnt about the self. Endeavouring to actualise the same, one does not consider the body as the sefl and remains fixed in the joyous experience of the vision of the steadfast self. Let him not rejoice and grieve when he experiences pleasant and unpleasant things, as such experiences result from the Prakrti and are transient.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
5.20 Na prahrsyet etc. In the case of this person, who habitually looks [upon all] alike, the classification of foes and friends is at the level of mundane business alone, and not internally, as he is firmly established in the Brahman.
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।5.20।। एक कुशल चितेरा अपने सुन्दरतम चित्र को पूर्णता और सुन्दरता प्रदान करने के लिए चित्र पटल पर अपनी तूलिका से बारम्बार रेखायें बनाता है और थोड़ी दूर हटकर उनका अवलोकन करता है। इसी प्रकार एक कुशल और श्रेष्ठ चित्रकार के समान भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण मनुष्य के हृदय पटल पर ज्ञानी पुरुष का शब्द चित्र अंकित करते हुए उसमें ज्ञानी के मन के भावों का एवं गुणों का सुन्दर चित्रण करते हैं। अनेक श्लोकों के द्वारा ज्ञानी पुरुष का वर्णन करने में भगवान् का एक मात्र उद्देश्य यह है कि एक सामान्य पुरुष भी ज्ञानी के लक्षणों को स्पष्ट रूप से समझ सके। वे स्पष्ट करते हैं कि महात्मा पुरुष कोई गंगातट की निर्जीव पाषाणी प्रतिमा नहीं होता बल्कि वह ऐसा स्फूर्त समर्थ और कुशल व्यक्ति होता है जो अपनी पीढ़ी को प्रभावित करके उसका नवनिर्माण करता है।बाह्य जगत् में घटित होने वाली घटनाओं के कारण नहीं वरन् उनके साथ अपने सम्बन्धों के कारण मनुष्य हर्ष से उत्तेजित अथवा दुख से निराश होता है। महानगर में किसी एक व्यक्ति की मृत्यु से मनुष्य को दुख नहीं होता परन्तु उस मनुष्य के पिता की मृत्यु उसके लिए दुखदायी घटना बन जाती है। इससे स्पष्ट होता है कि किसी व्यक्ति की मृत्युमात्र दुख का कारण नहीं बल्कि कारण तो मृत व्यक्ति के साथ का सम्बन्ध है। अपने मन के ऊपर विजय प्राप्त कर अनंतस्वरूप में स्थित ब्रह्मवित् पुरुष प्रिय या अप्रिय को प्राप्त कर सुख या दुख के आवेग में नहीं बह जाता। इसका अर्थ यह नहीं कि वह कोई लकड़ी के खिलौने या पत्थर की मूर्ति के समान जगत् में होने वाली घटनाओं को जानने में अथवा अपनी प्रतिक्रिया व्यक्त करने में समर्थ नहीं होता। इस श्लोक का अभिप्राय यह है कि ज्ञान के कारण उसे जो मन का समत्व प्राप्त होता है उसे ये घटनाएँ प्रभावित अथवा विचलित नहीं कर सकती हैं।तत्त्ववित् पुरुष की बुद्धि ज्ञान में स्थिर हो जाती है क्योंकि अहंकार और तज्जनित मिथ्या धारणाओं के विष का उसमें सर्वथा अभाव होता है। जिस क्रम से ज्ञानी पुरुष के विशेषण यहाँ बताये हैं उसका अध्ययन बड़ा रोचक है। प्रिय और अप्रिय वस्तुओं की उपस्थिति से जो विचलित रहता है वही स्थिरबुद्धि पुरुष है। स्थिर बुद्धि पुरुष संमोहरहित हो जाता है। जिसके मन में किसी प्रकार का मोह नहीं होता वही पुरुष ब्रह्मज्ञान का योग्य अधिकारी बनकर ब्रह्मवित् हो जाता है। और ब्रह्मवित् पुरुष ब्रह्म ही बनकर स्वस्वरूप में स्थित होकर इस जगत् में विचरण करता है।आगे कहते हैं

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