Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 2 › Verse 59
Bhagavad Gītā 2.59: Even the taste fades
विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः ।
रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते ॥
viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasavarjaṃ raso'pyasya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
Objects turn away from the abstaining embodied one, but the taste for them remains; even the taste turns away on seeing the Supreme. Abstinence alone suppresses behaviour but not desire; the verse locates real freedom in a higher fulfilment.
For children
Krishna says: “If you stop eating sweets, you might still wish for them. But when you find something even better, you stop wishing.”
Kṛṣṇa explains why withdrawing the senses (2.58) is not enough by itself.
Word by word
विषया विनिवर्तन्ते — Sense objects fall away
- viṣaya: object of the senses
- vinivartante: turn away, fall away
निराहारस्य देहिनः — for one who holds back from them
- nirāhāra: not feeding (the senses), abstaining
- dehin: the embodied one
रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य — but the taste for them remains; even that taste
- rasa: taste, longing
- varja: except
परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते — falls away on seeing the highest
- para: the highest
- dṛṣṭvā: having seen
- nivartate: turns away, ceases
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.