Verse 2.69
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी। यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः॥
Transliteration (IAST)
yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ
Word-by-Word Meanings
niśā-night
sarva-bhūtānām-of all beings
jāgarti-is awake
saṁyamī-the self-controlled
muneḥ-of the sage
Translation
What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled. What is the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.
Commentary
This paradoxical verse describes the inverted consciousness of the sage. The worldly person is 'awake' to sensory pleasures but 'asleep' to spiritual reality; the sage is 'awake' to the Self but 'asleep' to worldly attractions. Their realities are mutually exclusive - what one values, the other disregards.
Themes
jnanayogamoksha