🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 6.21
Chapter 6 · ध्यानयोग · Dhyāna-Yoga · "The Yoga of Meditation" · Verse 21 of 47
🪷 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
6.21 When he enjoys the Bliss which passes sense, and which only the Pure Intellect can grasp, when he comes to rest within his own highest Self, never again will he stray from reality.
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
6.21 When he (the Yogi) feels that Infinite Bliss which can be grasped by the (pure) intellect and which transcends the senses, and established wherein he never moves from the Reality.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
6.21 Yatra, when, at the time when; vetti, one experiences; tat, that; atyantikam, absolute-which is verily limitless, i.e. infinite; sukham, Bliss; yat, which; buddhi-grahyam, can be intuited by the intellect, intuited by the intellect alone, without the help of the senses; and which is atindriyam, beyond the senses, i.e. not objective; (-when one experieneces this kind of Bliss) and sthitah, being established in the nature of the Self; ayam, this person, the illumined one; eva, surely; na calati, does not swerve; tattvatah, from that Reality-i.e. does not deviate from the nature of Reality-.
Further,
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
6.20 - 6.23 Where, through the practice of Yoga, the mind, which is subdued everywhere by such practice, 'rejoices', i.e., rejoices in surpassing felicity; and where, perceiving through Yoga 'the self (Atman)' by 'the mind (Atman)' one is delighted by the self and indifferent to all other objects; and where, through Yoga, one 'knows', i.e., experiences that infinite happiness which can be grasped only by the 'intellect' contemplating on the self, but is beyond the grasp of the senses; where, remaining in that Yoga, one does not 'swerve from that state,' because of the overwhelming happiness that state confers; having gained which, he desires for it alone, even when he is awakened from Yoga, and does not hold anything else as a gain; where one is not moved even by 'the heaviest sorrow' caused by any berevaement like that of a virtuous son - let him know that disunion from all union with pain, i.e., which forms the opposite of union with pain, is called by the term Yoga. This Yoga must be practised with the determination of its nature as such from the beginning with a mind free from despondency, i.e., with zestful exaltation.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
6.21. Where he realises that limitless Bliss Which is to be grasped by intellect and is beyond sences; remaining Where he does not stir out from the Reality;
🪷 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
6.21 सुखम् bliss? आत्यन्तिकम् infinite? यत् which? तत् that? बुद्धिग्राह्यम् that which can be grasped by reason? अतीन्द्रियम् transcending the senses? वेत्ति knows? यत्र where? न not? च and? एव even? अयम् this? स्थितः established? चलति moves? तत्त्वतः from the Reality.Commentary The Infinite Bliss of the Self (which is beyond the reach of the senses) can be grasped (realised) by the pure intellect independently of the senses. During deep meditation the senses cease to function? as they are involved into their cause? the mind. The intellect is rendered pure by the practice of Yama (selfrestriant) and Niyama (observances and disciplinary practices) and constant meditation.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
6.21 Yatra, when, at the time when; vetti, one experiences; tat, that; atyantikam, absolute-which is verily limitless, i.e. infinite; sukham, Bliss; yat, which; buddhi-grahyam, can be intuited by the intellect, intuited by the intellect alone, without the help of the senses; and which is atindriyam, beyond the senses, i.e. not objective; (-when one experieneces this kind of Bliss) and sthitah, being established in the nature of the Self; ayam, this person, the illumined one; eva, surely; na calati, does not swerve; tattvatah, from that Reality-i.e. does not deviate from the nature of Reality-.
Further,
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
6.20 - 6.23 Where, through the practice of Yoga, the mind, which is subdued everywhere by such practice, 'rejoices', i.e., rejoices in surpassing felicity; and where, perceiving through Yoga 'the self (Atman)' by 'the mind (Atman)' one is delighted by the self and indifferent to all other objects; and where, through Yoga, one 'knows', i.e., experiences that infinite happiness which can be grasped only by the 'intellect' contemplating on the self, but is beyond the grasp of the senses; where, remaining in that Yoga, one does not 'swerve from that state,' because of the overwhelming happiness that state confers; having gained which, he desires for it alone, even when he is awakened from Yoga, and does not hold anything else as a gain; where one is not moved even by 'the heaviest sorrow' caused by any berevaement like that of a virtuous son - let him know that disunion from all union with pain, i.e., which forms the opposite of union with pain, is called by the term Yoga. This Yoga must be practised with the determination of its nature as such from the beginning with a mind free from despondency, i.e., with zestful exaltation.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
6.20 See Comment under 6.23
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।6.21।। No commentary.
🪷 Place in the Bhagavad-Gītā
- This is verse 21 of 47 in Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga (The Yoga of Meditation)
- Chapter theme: The yogī's discipline · abhyāsa-vairāgya · the supreme dhyāna-state
- Ṣaṭka grouping: TVAM-Ṣaṭka (BG 1-6 · the jīva)
- Chapter hub: /dhyana-yoga
🪷 ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय 🪷
सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)