Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 2 › Verse 70
Bhagavad Gītā 2.70: Calm as the ocean
आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् ।
तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥
āpūryamāṇamacalapratiṣṭhaṃ samudramāpaḥ praviśanti yadvat
tadvatkāmā yaṃ praviśanti sarve sa śāntimāpnoti na kāmakāmī
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
As waters enter the ocean, which is ever being filled yet stays steady in its place, so the one into whom all desires enter finds peace, not the one who desires desires. Desires still arise in the steady person described in 2.55–2.72, but they no longer disturb them; peace comes from depth, not from satisfying every want.
For children
Krishna says: “Rivers pour into the ocean all the time, but the ocean stays calm. If you can stay calm when you want lots of things, you will feel peaceful.”
Near the end of chapter 2, Kṛṣṇa is still describing the person of steady wisdom that Arjuna asked about in 2.54.
Word by word
आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं — Always being filled, yet steady and still
- āpūryamāṇa: being filled
- acala: unmoving
- pratiṣṭha: standing firm
समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् — is the ocean that the rivers flow into
- samudra: ocean
- āpaḥ: waters
- praviśanti: enter, flow in
- yadvat: just as
तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे — so is the person into whom all desires flow
- tadvat: in the same way
- kāma: desire
- yam: whom
- sarve: all
स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी — that person finds peace, not one who chases desires
- śānti: peace
- āpnoti: reaches, finds
- kāmakāmin: one who chases desires
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.