Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 2 › Verse 53
Bhagavad Gītā 2.53: Steady like a mountain
श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला ।
समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि ॥
śrutivipratipannā te yadā sthāsyati niścalā
samādhāvacalā buddhistadā yogamavāpsyasi
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
When your understanding, now perplexed by what you have heard, stands firm and immovable in samādhi, then you will attain yoga. This verse prompts Arjuna’s question in 2.54 about the person of steady wisdom (sthita-prajña).
For children
Krishna says: “When your mind stops wobbling and stays calm and still, like a mountain, then you have found yoga.”
This verse completes 2.52 and leads Arjuna to ask what a person with such a steady mind is like.
Word by word
श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते — Your mind, confused by many teachings,
- śruti: what is heard, scripture
- vipratipanna: confused, pulled different ways
यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला — when it stands still and steady
- sthāsyati: will stand
- niścala: unmoving, steady
समाधावचला बुद्धिस् — unmoving in deep stillness
- samādhi: deep stillness, absorption
- acala: immovable
- buddhi: understanding, mind
तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि — then you will reach yoga
- yoga: yoga, union
- avāpsyasi: you will attain
Kṛṣṇa speaks this verse. The Sanskrit is checked against four editions; meanings and word notes are simple learning aids written for MahaPrabha Gurukul, awaiting review by a Sanskrit teacher.