🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 6.8

Chapter 6 · ध्यानयोग · Dhyāna-Yoga · "The Yoga of Meditation" · Verse 8 of 47

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ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रियः।

युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः।।6.8।।
Bhagavad-Gītā 6.8 · 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
6.8 He who desires nothing but wisdom and spiritual insight, who has conquered his senses and who looks with the same eye upon a lump of earth, a stone or fine gold, is a real saint.
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
6.8 The Yogi who is satisfied with the knowledge and the wisdom (of the Self), who has conered the senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a piece of stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonied (i.e., is said to have attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi).
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
6.8 A yogi, jnana-vijnana-trpta-atma, whose mind is satisfied with knowledge and realization-jnana is thorough knowledge of things presented by the scriptures, but vijnana is making those things known from the scriptures a subject of one's own realization just as they have been presented; he whose mind (atma) has become contented (trpta) with those jnana and vijnana is jnana-vijnana-trpta-atma-; kutasthah, who is unmoved, i.e. who becomes unshakable; and vijita-indriyah, who has his organs under control;- he who is of this kind, ucyate, is said to be; yuktah, Self-absorbed. That yogi sama-losta-asma-kancanah, treats eally a lump of earth, a stone and gold. Further,
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
6.8 That Karma Yogin whose mind is content with the knowledge of the self and the knowledge of the difference, i.e., whose mind is content with the knowledge concerning the real nature of the self as well as with the knowledge of the difference of Its nature from Prakrti; 'who is established in the self' (Kutasthah), i.e., who remains as the self which is of the uniform nature of knowledge in all stages of evolution as men, gods etc. whose senses are therefore subdued; and to whom 'earth, stone and gold are of eal value' because of his lack of interest in any material objects of enjoyment on account of his intense earnestness to know the real nature of the self as different from Prakrti - he, that Karma Yogi, is called integrated i.e., fit for the practice of Yoga which is of the nature of the vision of the self. And also.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
6.8. He, whose self (mind) is satisfied with knowledge and with what consists of varied thoughts; who remains peak-like and has completely subdued his sense organs; and to whom a clod, a stone and a piece of gold are the same-that man of Yoga is called a master of Yoga.

🪷 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
6.8 ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा one who is satisfied with knowledge and wisdom (Selfrealisation)? कूटस्थः unshaken? विजितेन्द्रियः who has conered the senses? युक्तः united or harmonised? इति thus? उच्यते is said? योगी Yogi? समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः one to whom a lump of earth? a stone and gold are the same.Commentary Jnana is ParokshaJnana or theoretical knowledge from the study of the scriptures. Vijnana is Visesha Jnana or Aparoksha Jnana? i.e.? direct knowledge of the Self through Selfrealisation (spiritual experience or Anubhava).Kutastha means changeless like the anvil. Various kinds of iron pieces are hammered and shaped on the anvil? but the anvil remains unchanged. Even so the Yogi remains unshaken or unchanged or unaffected though he comes in contact with the senseobjects. So he is called Kutastha. Kutastha is another name of Brahman? the silent witness of the mind. (Cf.V.18VI.18)
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
6.8 A yogi, jnana-vijnana-trpta-atma, whose mind is satisfied with knowledge and realization-jnana is thorough knowledge of things presented by the scriptures, but vijnana is making those things known from the scriptures a subject of one's own realization just as they have been presented; he whose mind (atma) has become contented (trpta) with those jnana and vijnana is jnana-vijnana-trpta-atma-; kutasthah, who is unmoved, i.e. who becomes unshakable; and vijita-indriyah, who has his organs under control;- he who is of this kind, ucyate, is said to be; yuktah, Self-absorbed. That yogi sama-losta-asma-kancanah, treats eally a lump of earth, a stone and gold. Further,
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
6.8 That Karma Yogin whose mind is content with the knowledge of the self and the knowledge of the difference, i.e., whose mind is content with the knowledge concerning the real nature of the self as well as with the knowledge of the difference of Its nature from Prakrti; 'who is established in the self' (Kutasthah), i.e., who remains as the self which is of the uniform nature of knowledge in all stages of evolution as men, gods etc. whose senses are therefore subdued; and to whom 'earth, stone and gold are of eal value' because of his lack of interest in any material objects of enjoyment on account of his intense earnestness to know the real nature of the self as different from Prakrti - he, that Karma Yogi, is called integrated i.e., fit for the practice of Yoga which is of the nature of the vision of the self. And also.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
6.8 Jnana - etc. Knowledge : a knowledge which is different from the false one. What consists of varied thoughts : the action in which varied thoughts are involved, i.e. the action that is born as result of preceding thoughts of reasoning.
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।6.8।। शास्त्रोपदेश से ज्ञात आत्मा का जो निरन्तर ध्यान करता है ऐसा आत्मसंयमी पुरुष शीघ्र ही दिव्य तृप्ति और आनन्द का अनुभव पाकर पूर्णयोगी बन जाता है। उसकी तृप्ति शास्त्रों के पाण्डित्य की नहीं वरन् दिव्य आत्मानुभूति की होती है जो शास्त्राध्ययन के सन्तोष से कहीं अधिक उत्कृष्ट होती है।श्री शंकराचार्य के अनुसार ज्ञान का अर्थ है शास्त्रोक्त पदार्थों का परिज्ञान और विज्ञान शास्त्र से ज्ञात तत्त्व का स्वानुभवकरण है। ज्ञान और विज्ञान के प्राप्त होने पर पुरुष का हृदय अलौकिक तृप्ति का अनुभव करता है।अविचल (कूटस्थ) वेदान्त में आत्मा को कूटस्थ कहा गया है। कूट का अर्थ है निहाई। लुहार तप्त लौहखण्ड को निहाई पर रखकर हथौड़े से उस पर चोट करके लौहखण्ड को विभिन्न आकार देता है। हथौड़े की चोट का प्रभाव लौहखण्ड पर तो पड़ता है परन्तु निहाई पर नहीं। वह स्वयं अविचल रहते हुये लोहे को अनेक आकार देने के लिये आश्रय देती है। इस प्रकार कूटस्थ का अर्थ हुआ जो कूट के समान अविचल अविकारी रहता है।ज्ञानविज्ञान से सन्तुष्ट पुरुष कूटस्थ आत्मा को जानकर स्वयं भी सभी परिस्थितियों में कूटस्थ बनकर रहता है। वह समदर्शी बन जाता है। उसके लिए मिट्टी पाषाण और सुवर्ण सब समान होते हैं अर्थात् वह इन सबके प्रति समान भाव से रहता है। सामान्य जन इसमें रागद्वेषादि रखकर प्रियअप्रिय की प्राप्ति या हानि में सुखी या दुखी होते हैं। ज्ञान का मापदण्ड यही है कि इन वस्तुओं के प्राप्त होने पर पुरुष एक समान रहता है।स्वप्नावस्था में कोई पुरुष कितना ही धन अर्जित करे अथवा सम्पत्ति को खो दे परन्तु जाग्रत अवस्था में आने पर स्वप्न में देखे हुये धन के लाभ या हानि का कोई अर्थ नहीं रह जाता। इसी प्रकार उपाधियाँ के द्वारा अनुभूत जगत के परे परमपूर्ण स्वरूप में स्थित पुरुष के लिए मिट्टी पाषाण और स्वर्ण का कोई अर्थ नहीं रह जाता वे उसके आनन्द में न वृद्धि कर सकते हैं न क्षय। वह परमानन्द का एकमात्र स्वामी बन जाता है। स्वर्ग के कोषाधिपति कुबेर के लिए पृथ्वी का राज्य कोई बड़ी उपलब्धि नहीं कि वे हर्षोल्लास में झूम उठें।

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