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← Chapter 2: The Yoga of Knowledge

Verse 2.55

Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit

श्रीभगवानुवाच प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान्। आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते॥

Transliteration (IAST)

śrī-bhagavān uvāca prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthita-prajñas tadocyate

Word-by-Word Meanings

prajahāti-gives up completely
kāmān-desires
mano-gatān-of the mind
ātmani-in the Self
tuṣṭaḥ-satisfied
sthita-prajñaḥ-one of steady wisdom

Translation

The Supreme Lord said: When one completely abandons all desires of the mind, O Partha, and is satisfied in the Self by the Self alone, then one is said to be of steady wisdom.

Commentary

Krishna begins describing the sthitaprajña - the person of steady wisdom. The first characteristic is complete freedom from mental desires combined with self-sufficiency. Such a person finds fulfillment within, not from external objects. This is not suppression of desire but its natural dissolution through Self-knowledge.

Themes

jnanayogamoksha